More Than Survival
by Supa Supa Bad Truly Mad Moves
Summary: PART 4: Familiar faces are starting to pop up, which isn't necessarily a good thing. It seems that everyone we call enemy is in one place, ready to take us down. And yet, in spite of it all, we're happy. Let them try to take that away.
1. Chapter 1

**More Than Survival**

**Part 4 of SSBTMM's Maximum Ride fanfic**

**Chapter 1**

Jewel eyed the slow-moving middle-aged woman interestedly. In his limited dealings with the organization called the Survivors, he had seen very few faces, heard very few voices, and this woman was the only one he had encountered multiple times.

The woman approached him. "Good afternoon once again, Jewel," she said.

"I see a lot of you around here," Jewel said. "You strike me as an important person."

"Indeed," the woman replied. "I spearheaded the effort that inspired the Survivors to become what they are."

"But you failed," Jewel said shrewdly.

"As did you," the woman reminded him. "But together, with unity, we may finally win."

"Have we ever met before?" Jewel asked.

"No, we haven't."

"Well, then let's not remain strangers." Jewel held out a hand. "I, of course, am Jewel."

She shook his hand. "Marian Janssen."

Jewel looked her up and down once again. It was a habit he was in—analyzing everything around him. His eyes were perfectly cut diamonds six inches in diameter, and the rest of his body was studded with red rubies, apart from spidery mandibles and an extra pair of bladed arms sculpted from marble. Jewel was currently clothed in a dark blue suit, as was his preference. The woman was clothed similarly to himself, and apart from her severe expression and the way she moved, with a barely-perceptible slowness and thoughtfulness, she seemed perfectly ordinary.

"So, Marian Janssen, tell me something," Jewel said.

"Gladly," she replied. "Could I have some of that tea?"

Jewel scowled and poured her a cup. "What do the Survivors do?" he asked, passing it to her. "I've seen very little action around here."

"Well, Jewel, you _do_ have a reputation as one of the less subtle minds of the decade," Janssen said dryly. "Trust that the Survivors are, in fact, working."

"Uh-huh," Jewel said. "Well, the Survivors have been rubbing me the wrong way. I didn't sign on to be their tea-droid."

"Do you have a choice?" Janssen asked.

Jewel hurled the tea tray into the wall and brandished his shiny white blades. "Yeah," he said. "I could kill everybody in this organization. Eight or nine people per second, maybe, if I was on a true rampage. My patience is being tested, and that's not healthy for anybody involved."

"Your patience will be rewarded," Janssen said. "Everyone will end up much 'healthier' for it."

"Except for all the people you kill," Jewel said dryly.

"Granted."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Do you ever find yourself ecstatically happy in spite of everything around you? Temporarily, at least, I felt that I was on the right track.

Sometimes, mostly during the tender moments with Max, I wondered if my life was real. I mean, sure, the memory of the horrible times of my life remains very real, no doubting that. But when I'm with Max, and she's kissing me and telling me she loves me… well, yeah, it's times like that when I wonder if _anything_ is real.

But the more sensible part of myself told me that indeed it was. Somehow, I was everything she could ask for. Somehow, we were in love. And that's the sort of thing you really shouldn't question.

I was pondering this as I watched her sleep. We had found a nice campsite in the dark forest that Keegan had transported us to. We still didn't know where we were; we didn't really care yet, as the "I-can't-believe-we're-alive" celebration was still going strong. Now, with the sun starting to peer over the tall pines, everyone was asleep apart from me. In a few hours, I knew, everyone would wake up and things would start getting serious. But I wouldn't let that feeling spread beyond myself, not yet.

I looked around our camp. Max had just discovered that she would be eighteen in a few days' time, and with that knowledge came a kind of inner peace that I'd never seen on her before. Her sleeping face was content; not something I was used to seeing on any member of the flock.

Iggy and Nudge were huddled together lovingly. I'd begun to realize that they were just as in love as Max and I were, maybe more. Over the course of three years, I'd watched them grow and change, and at this point it almost seemed like the two of them had developed in such a way as to fit each other perfectly. Iggy was still the tallest member of the flock, now seven feet five inches (that's one inch taller than the guy who played Chewbacca, if you want to know). Nudge was tall as well, taller than me, and—though I hadn't really noticed this until Max had returned, observed it, and wouldn't shut up about it—was unbelievably beautiful.

Gazzy and Angel were head to head as they slept. There weren't enough blankets, and the two of them had been the ones to sacrifice theirs. They could take care of themselves, a lot better than any of the rest of us.

On the edge of the camp was Brigid, wrapped tightly in blankets and ropes so she couldn't escape. Taking her with us had been my idea. Though she had betrayed us, betrayed everything she had ever seemed to believe in, would have done anything to anyone in order to preserve her own life, I cared for her as if she was my own child. She had lost her mind, and I wanted to take her back home to see if there was any way to get her better. No one really supported me in that venture, not even Max. But she trusted me utterly, and if helping Brigid was important to me she would never stand in my way.

The final member of our group was the Living Cell, doubtless the most wretched life-form we had ever encountered. A black, pulsating stone cube, forty feet in every direction, it had been used by Jewel's organization as a prison cell, a foolproof way to house their enemies. It had sought our aid in ending its miserable existence. With Angel as an interpreter, we had figured out that the Cell wanted to end its life—that was the only way it could figure that it could gain happiness. It wanted us to kill it, but we had no idea how the hell that would have been done even if we wanted to do it.

In complete silence, I fluttered up to the top of one of the few deciduous trees in the area. I was out of sight of the camp, but I would hear them if they called, or if anything else happened. I wanted to be alone with my thoughts, undistracted by the sight of the people I loved.

Many minutes past without a decipherable thought really crossing my mind. I was barely aware when a familiar figure dropped into the tree next to me. I looked at her, a face I knew, a face I loved, with its lovely brown eyes, sunny hair, and, folding up behind her, a pair of streaked and speckled wings.

I winced. It was an abomination.

"You're not Max," I said.

She held up her hands defensively. "Ease up, hot stuff. I wasn't planning on saying I was."

"Sure," I said suspiciously.

"Honest," the clone said. "That was gonna be the first thing out of my mouth; I'm not Max. Incidentally, how could you tell?"

I looked her up and down. How _had_ I known, before she had even said a word? "You're just not Max," I said.

"Yeah? You sure it's not because I'm wearing different clothes and have shorter hair?"

I snorted. "Yeah, that too, I suppose," I said.

"Well, that's not as romantic as saying that I'm just not Max," she said wryly. She sighed. "You're something pretty special, Fang. I wish they'd made a clone of you."

I eyed her, still not letting my guard down. "There's no guarantee that he'd be anything like me, or at all compatible with you."

"Yeah, I know, but it would have been worth a try."

"So… there never was a clone of me, then?"

"No, just the girls," the fake Max said. "The other two were killed when Itex was blown up. I found their bodies. It's just me now."

I gently clutched the slender knife that I kept in my belt loop. She had been civil so far, but she was almost as crafty as the real Max, and I knew it could come to a fight at any moment. "So, what have you been doing?" I asked.

"Livin' la vida loca," she said sarcastically. "What do you think I've been doing? You people have some support, some sympathy. _Everyone_ wants me dead."

"Well, can you blame them?" I said.

"I've been living like a rat," she snarled. "I've been sneaking around the world. The only thing worse than being seen is being mistaken for Max. I don't want to exist this way anymore! I don't want to survive. I want to live."

I looked into her eyes tightly. "Isn't that from _WALL-E_?"

"No, that's been a proverb for a very long time, actually," she said. "But don't you see what I'm saying? I want my own life. Like that's gonna happen. I mean, I'm the evil twin of a world-famous freak. But I thought that if there was any chance of living, I could find it with the flock. That's why I've been searching for you."

A tear dripped down her cheek. A fake one, I could tell; somehow, she had learned to cry on cue. But I got her meaning.

"Well, we'll see if you can pass the lie detector test," I said.

She scowled. "Angel?"

"That's right. If she thinks even for a minute that you're being deceitful, you're dead."

"And… and if I'm not?" she challenged. "If it turns out I'm honest?"

"We'll see."

"Will… will I be a member of the flock?"

"I don't know about that."

She sighed. "That'll have to be enough," she muttered. "Thanks for the chance."

"No problem," I said.

"They're not gonna really appreciate me showing up, are they?" she asked.

"Probably not."

"If they attack before it's time, can you protect me?"

I shrugged one shoulder. "Fine."

"I mean, it's just… everybody trusts you."

"Uh-huh."

She slumped, and I settled in next to her. I could tell that she wasn't ready to come with me to the camp just yet.

"I've seen your blog," she said. "Your daughter is beautiful."

"Thanks," I said.

"She's named Airy… after Ari Batchelder, huh? That's really sweet that you did that."

"It was Max's idea," I said.

She sighed. The mention of Max's name was probably pretty irksome for her.

"If this thing works out, what do you want us to call you?" I asked.

"I don't know," she said. "I'm really used to being 'Max'."

"Well, that's not gonna work," I said.

She tilted her head suddenly. "They're starting to wake up over there," she said.

"They are? I don't hear anything."

Then, I heard Gazzy call my name.

I looked at Max's clone, impressed. "How did you know?"

She grinned. "Everyone knows a wild animal has better senses than a tame one."

"I see," I said cautiously. "Well, all right then. Don't fly behind me, stay where I can see you, and we'll see what they make of you."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Fang?" Gazzy called.

My eyes snapped open. He wasn't next to me.

"There he is!" Nudge said. "Oh… oh my God!"

I heard wings swooping down on us. That's about when I started freaking out. Fang didn't make noise when he flew. He had company.

Angel growled, low in her throat. It's a truly horrifying sound if you know her at all.

"It's your clone, Max," she said.

I stood up. Flying side by side with Fang was Max II. She was dressed in a heavy coat, and her hair was haphazardly tied back, but other than that, she looked exactly like me.

I've seen freakier things, but looking at my literal carbon copy gave me the heebie-jeebies. Is it just me?

She looked at me, grimacing lightly. "Hey, Max."

Angel advanced on my clone threateningly, and Nudge and Gazzy followed her lead.

"It's okay, guys," Fang said. "Max II has come here to… get her own life, I guess you could say."

"Back off, everybody," I said. "I think we can trust this one."

Fang looked at me with surprised admiration. So did my clone. "Thanks," she mumbled. "What makes you so sure?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I… I guess I feel like you're the kind of person who tells the truth. I don't know where the sympathy comes from. Maybe it's because you're so stunningly beautiful."

She laughed. It was a harsh and strangled sound, quite unlike my own melodic laugh. She had been roughing it, and I admired her for it. There was no way she'd found herself a nice Colorado mountain house. She'd been out in the wilds… what, going on four years now? I think I would have snapped long before then.

Angel looked at me curiously. _You really trust this freak?_

_Yes, I do,_ I countered silently. _And don't call her a freak, Angel. She's a person, it's not her fault how she was put together. And last time we met, she was perfectly civil. I've always felt that she was really one of the good guys._

Angel scowled. _If you could go in her head right now and hear how much she hates all of us, you wouldn't call her "civil"._

I looked up at her. She was scanning the camp with something that looked like revulsion.

"Angel here says you hate all of us," I said to her.

She shrugged. "People just don't impress me. If anyone did, it'd be you guys."

_That's the truth,_ Angel thought at me. _She's not pleasant, but she wouldn't be dumb enough to turn against us._

"Angel, I don't think she'd have any reason to turn against us," I said aloud. "She's one of us." I looked into the clone's eyes, into my eyes. "And that's what you want, right? To be one of us?"

"That would be absolutely fantastic," she said shakily. "I didn't want to give myself high expectations, but… yeah, I thought that if I could be one of the flock, then… well, all my dreams would come true, I guess you could say."

"Hey, come here," I said. I pulled Max II into a hug. She looked alarmed, then awkwardly settled in.

"Anything you want, we can accommodate you," I said.

_Careful what you promise, Max,_ Angel said. _You don't know what you're getting into._

I turned to glare at her. _And what exactly am I getting into?_

_Max, she's just a clone. She can't be given the same value as other people._

_She is a person,_ I repeated. _Get off her back._

I turned back to my clone and shook her hand. "It's good to have you," I said.

"Thank you," she replied. "Um… there are a few things I need to ask you… I've been having migraines lately. Am I expiring?"

She brushed the ponytail off of her neck.

"Yeah, you are," I said. "Later this week. Yeah, that's the same day I was slated to expire."

"Was?" Max II said hopefully. "You got rid of it?"

"Yeah," I said. "All of us did."

_Don't tell her about Keegan!_ Angel thought frantically.

I eyeballed Angel, irritated. "We haven't told Jeb that, though, so he's probably still preparing the solution. He'll get you taken care of."

She nodded. "Nice dude, Jeb. He never liked me, but generally, he's a nice dude."

I frowned. Keegan had been of that opinion as well. Come to think of it, I didn't think Mom had ever had a problem with Jeb… even the flock might have mentioned in passing that they trusted him more than I did. Either they, all the people I love, were all a bunch of saps, or I needed to start resolving my core daddy issues. I'd have to think about that.

"Anyway," I said, returning my attention to reality. "This has been a long time coming to you, huh? Welcome to the flock, Max."

Max II slumped. "I'm gonna need a name," she said. "Fang told me I couldn't be called Max."

"Well, that wasn't very nice," I said, giving Fang a scolding look. "You can be Max."

_But she isn't you, Max,_ Angel thought.

_I know,_ I snarled. If you can snarl within your head. _She's had a tough life, tougher than anything we've gone through. She should be called whatever she wants._

_Just be careful with her, Max. That's all I'm saying._

I look a single step in Angel's direction, piercing her with my eyes. _Are you picking up dangerous or threatening things in her thoughts?_

_No,_ Angel said grudgingly.

_Then we don't need your input anymore, _I thought back. _Buzz off._

"You have anything to eat?" the clone asked.

"Oh, sure," I said. "There's beef jerky, beef jerky, and, um… beef jerky."

She choked out another laugh. I figured her laugh sounded so horrible because she hadn't done it much. Not much reason to laugh when you're alone in the wild. Her laughing muscles were probably atrophied.

"I can deal," she said with a weak smile. "After scavenging European wildlife for the better part of four years, beef jerky would hit the spot just right."

"We've got better food at home," I said.

_We're gonna take her HOME?! _Angel demanded.

_Yes,_ I said, glaring at her. _You're starting to tick me off, kid._

"What in Hades is that thing?" Max II said abruptly, noticing the Living Cell beginning to stir awake.

I smirked. "That's probably the one thing on Earth more miserable than you are. Come on, I'll make us something sugary to drink, and then we'll start flying home."

"Cool," my clone replied.

"Max," Angel said aloud.

I turned to her. "Yes, Angel?" I said.

"I'm right."

All the menace she put into those simple words chilled me to the core.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

We had our breakfast of jerky. Though none of us had dined that poorly for a while, we were not yet spoiled—nobody complained.

Fang dripped some water into Brigid's mouth. She was still out cold, and she stirred only a little at the drink. I didn't know why Fang had wanted to spare her, but plain and simple, he gets what he wants. I trust his judgment. Not blindly, but because he's earned it. He's earned the trust of the entire world.

"So, are we heading home, then?" Iggy asked.

"I guess," I said. "Gazzy, rig something up so we can carry Brigid."

I turned, uncertainly, to the Cell. "We can't take you with us, but maybe we can send a plane for you after we get back to base."

It huffed and rocked uneasily.

"It really wants us to kill it, Max," Angel said. "Maybe we should."

"No," I said. "Helping someone die is _never_ a favor, and the flock always does the right thing."

The Cell snorted angrily.

"Suicide isn't the answer," I said.

"That refers to people," Angel said. "People who can have a life. What kind of life can the Cell have?"

"Any kind it wants," I said. I reminded myself to address the Cell directly. "Your mind, your thoughts, that Angel is reading, that proves that you _are_ a person, and your life holds value. Stay where you are, LC. The plane will come for you."

"LC?" Fang said, smirking.

I shrugged. "Why not?" I said.

"You know, I think she's right," Angel said to the Cell. "I've been withholding stuff for you to give you what you want, but Max is right, that's not helpful to you." She turned to me. "It can come with us right now."

"Really?" I said. "How? It's got to weigh hundreds of tons."

"Show her," Angel said.

The Cell contracted slightly, as if with disdain. Suddenly it melted into a slick black liquid that rolled across the ground to me. It all formed together at my feet, and the sides of the Cell were now barely a foot square.

"It can change its size?" Fang said, awed. "That's unbelievable. Where does the mass go?"

"It doesn't know, exactly," Angel said. "But it can get its mass back any time it wants."

I picked up the Cell. It was light enough to carry now. I couldn't help but think that it would make a nice paperweight.

"You're a special little thing," I said. "On my watch, you're not going to die."

"I've got it set up," Gazzy called. "Brigid's in a little gurney. It'll need two people."

"I'll help," Max II offered.

Gazzy looked a bit uneasy, but hesitantly said, "Um… okay, yeah. We'll lift it together… you and me."

She smirked. "You don't have to be so frightened of me, idiot."

"Max, be nice," I commanded.

She shrugged, probably as close to an apology as she could manage at the time, and helped Gazzy lift Brigid's stretcher. Gazzy was staring at me.

"What's up?" I asked him.

He tried to search for the words for a moment. "The ease with which you called her 'Max'," he finally said.

"Well, that's her name," I said. I hefted the miniaturized LC and lifted myself into the air. "Let's go, everybody."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Italy was only a hop, a skip, and a jump away. Keegan had known what she was doing when she had put us in that forest—after all, the proximity to where Max was searching for us was certainly no coincidence.

For the first time, Keegan knew what she was doing… and that made me swell with pride for my friend.

We weren't flying in such a tight-knit formation anymore. Fang and I were holding hands, as were Iggy and Nudge. Angel flew alone on the side, as far as possible from where Gazzy and Max II were bearing Brigid. Whatever her gripe was with my clone, she was trying not to be too obvious about it. But still, I caught her scowling pretty much every time I looked at her.

We swooped in on our base at around twilight. Ray was keeping a resolute guard.

"How'd it go?" he asked.

"Well enough," I said. "I think we've gotten everything done that we had to do."

Ray opened the doors for us, and joined us inside. We were immediately waylaid by Jeb.

"Max, I've got the solution," he said. "I only need a DNA sample from each of you, and I can stamp out the expiration date in an instant. I tried it on Total, and by every estimation I have, it worked."

"Great," I said. "But you don't need to hook me up. I've gotten rid of it already."

"Really?" he said, stunned. "How?"

"Doesn't matter," I said. "But if it works, use it on this gal here." I pushed Max II forward.

Jeb beheld her, his customarily peaceful face dropping into a scowl.

"That's not a good idea, Max," he said.

"I don't care," I said. "She's one of us now, and her expiration date is the same as mine was. Fix her."

"You need to understand, Max, that this clone of you isn't supposed to exist," Jeb said.

"I'm right here," Max II snarled.

"Max, please…" Jeb said. He took me by the shoulder and led me a few feet away. He began speaking with his hand on my shoulder, but I glared at the hand until he removed it.

"This clone, this Max II," Jeb explained. "She's… she's an aberration of nature."

"Yeah? Guess what? So am I. And you've got no problem with saving _my_ life at any time."

"Yes, but you're… _you_," Jeb said. "You're Max. You're…"

"Oh, don't whip out the 'only one Max' thing again," I snapped. "Fix her!"

Jeb gripped my shoulders again. "Max, this clone can't truly thrive in the world. She lacks significant development. You'll notice she's clumsy, or that she has trouble with simple mental tasks. She never got the opportunity to develop. When the two of you met, when you were the age of fourteen, she had only existed for a couple of months."

"And whose fault is that?" I said. "Not mine. Certainly not hers. You're saying put her out of her misery? No. All life is sacred, and if the people don't like the results of genetic experiments then quit doing it! I _won't_ leave anyone to die, not Brigid and not the Living Cell and not Max either. Fix her, or I'll break your neck right here and now."

Through the entire conversation, I'd literally felt Angel behind me, poking at my brain smugly to accentuate every point Jeb made. And, I suppose, to annoy me. After my final speech ended, she withdrew, apparently finding herself defeated.

Jeb sighed. "You're so remarkable, Max," he said. "You ought to watch your temper, though. By your own declarations, I think you would have felt bad in the morning if you had killed me."

"Maybe," I allowed. "Just know that I don't regret Laura or Mr. Chu, not that you're at their level. So, you're going to do this, then?"

"Of course," he said. "I only… I only meant for you to see what she represents to me."

"And what's that?"

"Only that she isn't you," he said. "You know you're like a daughter to me."

I nodded. "Yeah, I know that. Just don't expect me to tell Airy to call you Grandpa. You haven't won me back just yet."

Airy's little eye peeked around the corner. She fluttered over to give me a hug. I noticed that since she'd started flying, she almost never walked anywhere. Most of the halls in the base could accommodate her wingspan.

"I missed you, Mommy," she said. She saw Jeb approaching Max II and did a double-take. I had to giggle at her expression.

"Who's that?" she whispered.

I knew, then, that she had a little something to learn. "Airy, you're different from most of your family. Most of us were made by a lot of… bad people. You've met some of them. And the bad people who made us… well, they also made _her_. She's a copy of me. They made her so I would kill her."

"But you didn't do it," Airy said wisely.

"That's right, I—"

"Cause we're _good_ people," she finished.

I couldn't help laughing again. "Yes, we are. I'm glad you know that."

Airy flew out of my arms and perched on Max II's shoulders. "Hi," she said. "I'm Airy."

"Hi," Max said uneasily. "You're… wow, you're so much prettier in person."

"Thank you," Airy said.

"How old are you?"

"I'm four."

"No you're not," I said. "You're three."

"I'm four," Airy insisted.

"No, kid, you're three. I've got the documentation."

Fang rolled his eyes. "Don't debate with her, Max."

"I've got to go now," Max II said, setting Airy down. She looked bravely up at Jeb. "Lead the way."

Before leaving, Jeb paused to look at me and Fang. "When is the wedding?" he asked.

I shrugged. "We'll let you know," I said.

They departed.

"You know something?" I said. "I can't really _make_ myself trust him, but I'm thinking maybe I'm on the track towards it."

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Fang said. "I've gotta tell you, the other day, I told him to fight me…"

I eyeballed him. "Why would you do that?"

"I just needed to clear my stress," he said. "Anyway, his fist… it was like getting hit by a comet. I've never been hit that hard."

I frowned. "Do you think he's not entirely human?"

"I have no idea," he said. "But… hold back on the trust for a while." He looked up at me and wagged his eyebrows. "Say, Max, when _is_ the wedding?"

I found myself overcome by girlish laughter. "I don't know," I said. "It kind of just hit me that we're having one!"

"Are we making plans now?" Nudge said eagerly. "I've got so many ideas!"

"That's okay, Nudge," I said.

"You haven't even heard my ideas!" she protested.

"No, but I know what goes on in your pretty little brain, and I'm thinking something more humble."

"Humble?!" Nudge shrieked. "Why don't you just shoot me?"

Iggy tapped Nudge's shoulder. "Relax, Nudge. You can whip out all your great ideas when _we_ get married."

Nudge brightened, but only momentarily. "But you can't see," she whined.

I snorted and sat down at the conference table. "What are you thinking, babe?" I asked Fang.

He turned to the rest of the flock. "Privacy," he said simply. The small crowd melted away.

Fang sat with me and put his hand on mine. Some internal organ of mine skipped slightly. Might not have been my heart, but it was close enough. "You've really got something on your mind, huh?" I said quietly.

"Well… I'm thinking, I'll be eighteen in two months. We could wait until after that."

I cringed. "Two months? I am _not_ waiting that long."

"It'd be a bit more traditional," he said. "We'd both be adults."

"You know what else would be traditional?" I said. "Abstinence. You think we could do that for two months?"

He leveled a stare at me. "You're bluffing. You can't hold out any more than I can."

"Fine," I said. "But I still don't want to wait! Let's just get married here in the base. How about the day after our double-date with Keegan and Niles?"

"I guess," he muttered. "I want you in a gown, though! You're not denying me that."

My heart fluttered a little bit. "Yeah, okay," I said. "Like… like a wedding gown?"

He pushed his face in close to mine. "Yes," he whispered. "You, in a wedding gown, walking slowly towards me. I've been dreaming of that for as long as I can remember. That's all I ask. The rest of this is entirely up to you."

We slipped into a kiss. His demands wouldn't so hard to fulfill. Because in the end, he'd be mine. And that would be worth everything.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**ATTENTION: This is a **_**long**_** chapter. And I didn't write a long chapter to hear about how fluffy it was. Write a long review to correspond with the long chapter, lest I whoop you.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Cho Lao Hu had been a mercenary for all of her adult life, and much of that time spent as the leader of the company. She found herself now passing her forty-sixth year of life, but she liked to consider herself still vibrant and youthful.

The transition from one of the top people in Jewel's organization to apparently a mere foot-soldier for the Survivors had jolted her, though, and Lao Hu couldn't help but wonder if she really knew where she was going.

She untied her hair. She had been wearing a stiff ponytail for many years now; letting her hair cascade around her shoulders comforted her a bit. But not enough; her black hair was not glossy and shiny, but a dusty black like charcoal.

Lao Hu glared disdainfully when her associate Shey stumbled back into their private quarters, laughing heavily. Shey was without a doubt more beautiful than Lao Hu, for that matter more beautiful that most people, her raven-black hair cut very short and decorated with a pair of blossoms.

"Ah, Lao Hu, I've just had the most wonderful time!" Shey said cheerfully.

"Enough!" Lao Hu said. "You say that every night."

Shey shrugged. "I have a wonderful time every night. Soon I'll have worked my way through every tough-guy in the place."

Lao Hu sighed but didn't say anything.

"Say what's on your mind, Lao Hu. You'll feel better."

"You're a cheap ho."

"There, see?" Shey said. "You've cleared the air."

Shey fell backward into her cot.

"Do you ever think about the future, Shey?" Lao Hu asked.

"All the time."

"I worry sometimes," Lao Hu admitted.

"Not me," Shey said. "I know where my meals are gonna be. I can have any man I want any time. And I've known for a while that I'm surviving the end of the world. Everything about the future is gratifying."

"But… but Shey, don't you ever wonder about… I don't know, family?"

"I've got Lang," Shey said, referring to the only other surviving member of their mercenary company. "And you, if you're still interested. But if you're thinking of raising a family of your own, I'd recommend finding yourself a new boyfriend."

"That's not what I meant," Lao Hu said. "For the longest time, all I cared about in all the world was my own well-being. Now I'm not so sure. Jewel, my Jewel, has a soul more perfect than any human I've ever known. Even now, I see it, and though I'm a queen no longer I still feel like _his_ queen."

Shey sat up. "What are you getting at?"

"These people, the Survivors, they _have_ no soul," Lao Hu said. "Have you seen Jewel's frustration in his dealings with them? They're not like him. They're a different sort of evil."

Lao Hu felt Shey's hand on her shoulder abruptly. Looking up, Shey's face was wearing a very smug grin.

"We _are_ evil, Lao Hu," she whispered. "It's not a perception. It's a truth that makes the world what it is. We cannot overcome it; it's always been who we are. You fear for the planet? Perhaps, but you also look out for what keeps _you_ happy. And you keep nothing near you that does not."

Lao Hu pulled away slightly. "I _do_ fear for the planet."

"But you're doing something about it," Shey said. "That's what separates us from them. We're putting effort in. What do the so-called 'good' people try to do for the planet? The CSM, for example, getting others to change their ways. But that does not work. People do not change. Therefore, you and I are part of the organization that will _eliminate_ the people. If that is evil, my friend, I have no desire to be good."

Lao Hu glared. "Only because in a 'good' world, _you_ would be eliminated."

"That's the way it works," Shey said. "The world is at heart an evil place; the Survivors are seeking to purify that. I have no problem with it."

Lao Hu stood up. "I'm going to go talk to Jewel."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

I found Fang in one of the storage areas in our compound. He was sifting through the place. It was like a junkyard, and like any junkyard, it was full of riches if you'd care to look.

I remembered the only time that Fang and I had ever been alone together. When Max had gone down to help Ella, a stranger then, Fang had taken pretty good care of me. In spite of the sadness that had been going on, it had been one of the happier moments of my life, when I had realized that someone was really, really looking out for me.

In three years, nothing like that had ever happened again. Max had gotten back to us, kept us all together. By the time Max left with Airy, Iggy had been the one who was taking care of me, and Fang had spent the years pining for Max. Through all of that, I'd missed those brief days with just me and Fang.

I came up behind Fang and wrapped my arms around him. "Hey, brother," I said.

He patted my hand. "Hi, Nudge. What brings you here?"

"I've been missing you," I said. "I thought we could hang out."

"Cool," he said. "I'm just going through the stuff. It's amazing what the ICBG have been finding through the years."

"Yeah," I said. "What are you looking for?" I noticed the small pile near the door, things that Fang had decided to remove.

"Just… things we can use," Fang said absently.

I looked at the pile. Displayed prominently was a shiny white electric guitar. "Are you gonna learn to play the guitar?" I said excitedly.

"I don't know," he said. "I always wanted to. I'm probably never gonna touch it."

"Oh, you should," I said. "If it's always been your dream, you really, really should."

He smirked. "The guitar isn't exactly my ultimate dream, you know."

I nodded solemnly. "Your dream is to be with Max forever," I said. "Well, that's gonna happen any day now! You should start looking at what else your future is gonna bring. Learn to play the guitar!"

Fang shrugged. "I don't know."

"Do you think you and Max will have another baby?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said. "It might be nice. I think we're gonna stick with just the one for a while. If we had another, we'd probably be unprepared. It's not easy to get ready for a baby when pregnancy only lasts two and a half weeks."

"Yeah, that was pretty weird," I agreed. "Iggy and I talk about having a baby sometimes. But, you know, it's like we've already got one. Airy is special."

"Yeah," Fang whispered. "Very, very special."

"And she's the sweetest thing ever," I continued. "Did you know, the other day she went up to Max II and called her 'Auntie Max'."

Fang looked up at me, wearing his most stunned expression. It's not as exciting an expression as it sounds. "Really?" he said. "I didn't know that. When did that happen?"

"I don't know, two or three days ago. I asked her why, and she just said, 'You're Auntie Nudge; Auntie Angel; Auntie Max.' Pointing to all three of us while she said it. She's such a sweetheart."

"Yeah," Fang said, choking up a little. "Max did a good job."

"Hey, don't give her all the credit," I said. "You're a good daddy."

"Thanks, but no I'm not," he muttered. "Why are you here, Nudge, really?"

"Looking for you," I said. "I was thinking about that time we were with the hawks, just the two of us. I miss that."

"Yeah, that was pretty cool," he said.

I gave him a hug. "How's the wedding coming along?" I asked.

"Quite well," he said. "Max agreed to the gown."

"You haven't seen it, have you?" I said suspiciously.

"Of course not. But after we were talking about it, she realized that wearing the gown would be pretty ridiculous if she didn't go through all the other grandiose trappings of a wedding. Walked right into my snare. So, you're going to do the décor."

"Excellent," I said evilly. "Still, I can't believe we had to trick her into it. She should _want_ an extravagant wedding."

"Hey, if it were up to me I would have fallen in love with someone who wasn't quite as dumb," Fang countered. "But it doesn't work that way."

We shared a laugh. It really felt nice, having the whole family reunited. And there were some new family members, too.

Iggy slipped into the junk room. "Hey there, bro," he said. "Hi, twerp."

I giggled. We no longer bothered to ask how Iggy knew exactly who was in a room as soon as he entered. He eased up to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I rested my head on him, the love of my life. Under most circumstances, I'm happy as a clam. However happy a clam is. With Iggy, I'm positively ecstatic. No way in hell clams ever get ecstatic.

"Good thing I found you in the first place I looked," Iggy said. It took me a moment, serene as I was, to realize he was addressing Fang.

"What do you need me for?" Fang asked.

Iggy kissed the top of my head, then turned back to Fang. "Since the whole 'save Brigid' thing is your party, we need you in her room pronto. She's up and about."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Iggy came back in, arm in arm with Nudge, Fang right behind him.

"Got him, Max," he said needlessly.

"Great," I replied.

"You called for me, babe?" Fang said.

"Yeah," I said. "Brigid's waking up, and… you're the man with the plan here. What do we do with her?"

"We all have to keep an eye on her," Fang said. "But we want her comfortable, relaxed. We need to get her in a better state of mind than she's been in."

I looked her over. "What's her problem? I never really noticed anything about her; I was too occupied…"

"Being jealous?" Fang supplied.

"I was gonna say saving the world, but… yeah, I was friggin' jealous. So sue me."

"I'd always suspected, during the time I worked with her, that Brigid would get herself into trouble," Mom said. She was the one who had the chair closest to Brigid's bed. "She always had trouble telling right from wrong."

"Really?" I said.

"Yeah. She was a brilliant scientist, but… pretty much blind when it came to good or evil."

Brigid had what could be called a high-security bedroom. We'd rounded up everyone in the compound. Sixteen trustworthy people against one person of ambiguous trustworthiness is always good odds. Well, two trustworthy people and fourteen trustworthy not-people. Well, let's see, there's eight bird-people, three ICBG mutant people, two dogs, one sort of a person and one not, and then… you know, forget about it. Anyway, it was Mom and Ella, the flock (I had begun counting Max II and Airy as part of the flock), Total, Akila, Danny, Ray, Ram, and the LC. Jeb was nowhere to be found.

All of us surrounded Brigid as she groggily woke up. "Fang," she said happily, her eyes instantly darting to him. "Did… did you save me?"

"Kind of," he said. "We've brought you to our base… to make you better. My idea."

Brigid stretched. "That's sweet of you, Fang. You're so handsome…" She slipped out of the covers, and sat up in the comfortable nightie she had been clothed in.

"Oh, God, she's gonna rub herself again, isn't she?" I muttered.

My mom put a hand on Brigid's shoulder. "Hey, Dr. Dwyer."

"Dr. Martinez," Brigid said blankly. She tried to get past Mom, to get to Fang.

"Take it easy, Brigid," Mom said soothingly. "Now, just tell me what it is you want to do."

"I want Fang," Brigid whispered.

"No, Brigid, you can't have Fang," Mom said firmly, pushing her back.

"I can't have Fang?" Brigid demanded. She looked at Fang in disbelief.

He shrugged. "You can't have me, Brigid."

"No one has ever said that to me before," she muttered.

"Really?" I asked. "It must have come up at some time."

"Max," Fang hissed. "Knock it off."

"I wanna go back to Jewel," Brigid pouted.

"Jewel was evil, Brigid. Don't you understand that?" Fang said.

"Well, he was always nice to me," she countered. "He said I could have you if I caught you. He called me Pudding."

I rolled my eyes. "She's completely out of her noggin. There's nothing we can do."

"Take it easy, Max," Fang said. "Jewel _did_ call her Pudding. He knew how to manipulate, Jewel did." He looked back at Brigid. "Brigid, you're safe here. Everyone will be nice to you here. Okay… Pudding?"

Brigid's eyes widened. "Okay," she said sweetly, leaning in to him.

"Oh, God," I muttered again. "Are you sure she's insane? Maybe she's just your standard bimbo."

Fang sighed and turned to me, putting his hands tightly on my shoulders. "Max… babe, darling, sweetheart, my love, you're not helping. Get out."

I turned to leave the room. Something that sounded distinctly like an amused chuckle rose from the Living Cell. I glared at it.

In the corridor, I shut the door behind me. I tried to hear what was going on behind the door, but decided that it didn't really matter. A few seconds later, Max II slipped out of the room.

"They kicked me out," she said. "I didn't even do anything. I'm just plain offended now."

"Join the club," I muttered.

"What's the deal with this Brigid gal, anyway?" Max asked.

"I don't know much more than you do," I said. "Fang really cares about her, and he wants her away from the dark side."

"I know that, I meant the part about you being jealous," she clarified.

I glared. My glare can stop an army in its tracks. I relied heavily on my glare in most situations, from conversation to battle. At that moment, however, the Max Glare was finally defeated when my clone mockingly countered with the identical expression.

"Fang used to have a thing for redheads," I finally said. "Way back before I was willing to admit I had a thing for him, I kind of dug into Brigid a little bit. Wouldn't let him near her."

"A little bit?" Max II challenged.

I scowled. "Thinking about the two of them had me crying on multiple occasions. Okay?"

She took a step back, her expression softening. "Sorry," she said. "Were… were Fang and Brigid ever actually involved?"

"No," I said. "He says he never really had feelings for her, and I trust him. And he says that we can get her onto our side, and I trust that too. He says he cares about her a lot, and I know that he only means as a comrade. I trust him, his judgment, wholly and utterly. You know?"

"Uh-huh."

"I guess seeing how hot she is for him is rekindling some old stuff, is all," I muttered.

"Why are you telling me all this?"

I looked at her, confused. "You asked."

"Yeah, but I didn't think you'd trust me with all these emotions," she said. "I figured you'd keep that to yourself."

"Hmm. Yeah, I don't do that anymore. And I do trust you. Maybe not as much as some other people, but I do."

She beamed. "Thanks, Max."

"You're welcome, Max."

The door to Brigid's room opened slowly, and Airy slipped out. As always, her feet never touched the ground. In the split second it took me to worry that she'd shut the door on her own wing, she elegantly pulled her wings back, shot up to the ceiling, and clicked the door shut before spreading them again, never going anywhere near the floor. She fluttered to my arms.

"Hi-hi, Mommy," she said.

"Hi, Airy," I replied.

"Daddy loves you," she informed me.

I laughed. "I know that, sweetie."

"You're gonna get married."

"Yeah, we are. How's Brigid?"

"She's being mean to Grandma," Airy said.

"Really?" I said. I looked at the door, concerned. "Should I go in there?"

"I want you to stay with me, Mommy," Airy said.

"Could you check?" I said to Max II.

She peered into the room, retreating as soon as possible.

"It's okay," she said. "They're holding their own." She leaned against the wall for a moment. "So, that's your mom, huh?"

"Biologically, yeah," I said. "But also spiritually, which is more important, I think. The whole flock calls her Mom."

"You've got it pretty good, don't you?" she said. "Maybe the idea that a mutant can have their own life isn't so off-the-wall. I guess I wasn't grasping at straws, huh?"

"No, not at all," I said.

"I wish I had a boyfriend," she muttered wistfully. "Where could I find one?"

"You'd be surprised," I said. "I never imagined that I could fall in love with anybody, never mind Fang. Honestly, most of my life he was just the dude in the crate next to mine. And now look." I held Airy up above my head, and she giggled.

"So, do you think I could have Jeb make me a boyfriend, or what?"

I rolled my eyes. "That would never work. Besides, I don't think he's in that business anymore. I don't know if anybody is."

She slid down the wall slowly. "Well, I guess I'm just stuck waiting for Gazzy then."

I actually roared with laughter before I realized just how depressing the thoughts were to her. "Listen, there are more important things in having your own life than a boyfriend."

"I'm sorry, but that's incredibly easy for you to say."

I crouched down next to her. "Maybe, yeah," I admitted. "I mean, I'm not gonna lie to you, Fang is my ultimate purpose for living. But I can count my other blessings, too. I like to think that recently I've gained a sister. That's something pretty special and important, wouldn't you say?"

She smiled half-heartedly. "Yeah, I guess."

The door opened again, and Ray slipped out.

"What's going on in there?" I asked.

"She threw a lemon at me," Ray said glumly.

I laughed. "She's a nutjob!"

"I'm starting to think Fang is on a fool's errand, to be honest with you," Ray said.

I shook my head. "Fang doesn't do that. Trust his judgment."

Ray smiled at me with his stingray's mouth. "Everybody does."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

I can't think of anything more thrilling than watching Max wake up. She doesn't stir or move at all, but her eyes just snap open, perfectly aware. It's quite a rush, watching it. I stared at her, waiting for it… and there it was!

"Good morning, babe," I said.

"Hey, Fang," she said. "What are you doing awake?"

"Just… staring," I replied.

"You're a creep," she said, kissing me lightly.

"Well, sharing a bed was your idea," I said.

Max closed her eyes and sighed contentedly. "That was a long time ago," she whispered.

"Happy birthday," I whispered back.

Her eyes popped open again. "Yeah! I'm eighteen today!"

I held her gently. "So… are you gonna go vote?"

She laughed. "Who's running?"

"I don't know."

She leaned her head on my shoulder. "Do I get early-morning birthday sex?"

"Birthday sex?" I repeated. "And how the hell do we distinguish that from the early-morning sex we have every day?"

She shrugged. "Well, this time… it's my birthday. Come on, Fang. Why don't you like it as much as I do? I thought it was a guy thing, and that the girls are supposed to be the ones who withhold it all the time."

I stroked her hair. "Well, I'm the level-headed one. That's my entire charm. While you're… reckless and impulsive." I rolled her over and looked her in the eye. "But don't think that means that I don't want you all the time. Because I do, babe. I do."

She inhaled sharply. "Right on."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

It was over too soon, as usual. But I held her tight, tighter than I ever had before.

"Tomorrow, we see Keegan and Niles," I reminded her.

"Yeah," she whispered. "I love them. I bet they're going to surprise us with something really amazing."

"And then the day after that…" I continued.

"Our wedding," she finished. "What about today, though? Shouldn't we do something special today?"

"Besides the early-morning birthday sex?"

"Oh, we have sex early every morning," she said dismissively.

I chuckled at her attitude. "You're so ridiculous."

Max snuggled up to me. "We're really… falling back into our old rhythm, aren't we?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well… I was gone, I was away from the rest of you for three years. And now it's like I've been here the whole time. I was expecting at least a little bit of resentment."

"No one here resents you, Max," I said. "We all love you. You… are the most important person in the world."

"Oh, no I'm not…"

"Well, in _my_ world. In _our_ world. Everybody sees the world in a different way. And a lot of those worlds center entirely around you."

"Whose worlds?" she said suspiciously.

"Well, mine, first of all. Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel…"

"I think they have better things to do than—" Max began.

"And Airy," I interrupted. "Your beautiful, beautiful Airy."

"Fang," she said, dropping her smile for the first time that morning. "Fang, she's your Airy too."

I dismissed that. "I can't take any credit for her."

"Fang, no," Max said, seeming almost frightened. "Don't. Airy is amazing and perfect, and it's because of you… because _you_'re amazing and perfect." She clutched my shoulder. "You know what you can do for my birthday, Fang? Stop bringing yourself down. You know you're absolutely perfect. I know I… I know I'm wrong about a lot of things, but you've gotta trust that I'm right about _you_."

I took a deep breath and looked at her. "I know you are, babe. I know."

"Three years apart taught me a lot," she said. "And I think the thing that I learned the most is that nobody on this planet is as wonderful as you are."

I kissed her passionately.

"I get bonus birthday sex now?" she mumbled.

"What can I say?" I replied. "You've got great lines. Always have."

For the first time ever, she pushed me away slightly. "You're a great daddy," she said. "And you're gonna be a really, really great husband. That's not a line. That's the absolute truth."

"Thank you, Max."

"Because nobody on this planet is as wonderful as you are," she repeated.

I leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "Thank you."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

My birthday was… well, anti-climactic, to be honest with you. All in all, just another day. Then again, that's what a birthday is when you get right down to it.

The next day promised much more excitement. Fang and I would be going on a double date with Keegan and Niles, our very best friends. Keegan is something very close to omnipotent: her imagination can bring about absolutely anything. Keegan could rule the galaxy if she wanted to—but she didn't want to. She found herself content with her true love in Niles, and a best friend in me.

When Fang and I woke up, we were in a room neither of us had ever seen before. It was like a cozy little cottage. Abruptly, we were dressed like a Victorian-era couple, and were standing ourselves up. We smirked at each other. Keegan had always been very pretty and very old-fashioned.

She emerged with Niles. Keegan was thin and wispy, with long black hair and thick plastic glasses. Niles was broad-shouldered and handsome with very blond, nicely trimmed hair.

"Yo, yo, yo," Niles said loudly, disrupting the peaceful setting.

I laughed. "Hey, Niles." I turned to beam at Keegan. "Hiya, Keegmeister. What's this place?"

Keegan shrugged. "I thought I'd try my hand at creating my own universe. Don't open any doors or windows; we'll get sucked straight out into space."

I looked out the window. Pure blackness. "Great," I said uneasily.

"Oh, I'm just kidding," Keegan said. The outside of the window was now blue skies and green grass. "This is just a little place I created for me and Niles. We're going to grow old here, the two of us."

"Yeah," Niles said, lovingly stroking Keegan's hair.

"What are we doing today?" I asked.

Keegan gave me a hug. "We're spending the day together, just two couples. Anything you want to do, I can whip that up for you."

"I've been thinking about hiking," Niles supplied.

I smiled at him. "Good thinking. Let's do that first, then."

Instantly, we were dressed in hiking gear at the foot of a mountain trail. Keegan took a deep breath of the crisp air. "Wonderful," she said softly.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

A half-hour into our romantic, stimulating hike, Keegan and I let the boys walk ahead of us.

"Max?" Keegan said.

"Sup, Keegs?" I replied.

"I wanted to tell you… Niles and I are going to… 'do it'… tonight."

I took a second to process her tone. "First time?" I said finally.

"Uh-huh," she said.

I blinked. "That's hard to believe."

"Well, look at us, Max," Keegan said. "We've barely ever even touched each other."

"Right," I said, nodding. "I'm so used to… I guess 'modern' relationships that I forget the way it used to be… the way it still should be, really. The way you view the world, Keegan… well, I just wish I was as perfect as you."

"I'm not perfect, Max," Keegan said. "And for a change I need _your_ advice."

I frowned. "I'm not too good with the sex talk."

"No, just… just tell me… what goes through your mind when you… when you… when you make love with Fang, what goes through your mind?"

I thought about that. "In my mind? Not much. But, Keegan, it's the ultimate human pleasure. You've done right in waiting. This'll be the best night of your life, yours and Niles'."

Keegan bit her lip. "Max… Niles wasn't a virgin when we met. You know the story, right?"

"Yeah," I said. "In the junior-high days, Niles was…"

"Horny," Keegan finished. Her use of a modern, vulgar word was so unexpected that I broke out laughing. She almost never did that.

"But this will be different for Niles," I assured her. "Niles may have slept with a lot of girls back before he met you, but he never had a soulmate. You're his soulmate, and he'll be sleeping with _you_. That's going to make a difference."

Keegan smiled. "How did you get so wise, Max?"

I rolled a shoulder noncommittally. "I hear things. Anyway, I love you, Keegan. Have a great time tonight."

"Thank you, Max," Keegan said.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

I felt like I was being sucked from the world I knew, and into a place where time had no meaning, where every concept I was familiar with was moot, where no sane or rational thoughts existed.

It was my wedding day.

Nudge got me into the gown. Seeing myself in the mirror, I started making bizarre peeping noises.

"Calm down, Max," she whispered. "Remember, you're getting exactly what you've wanted for your entire life."

"Uh-huh," I said.

I was in my room with all of my bridesmaids. Nudge was my maid of honor, dressed in a sleek red dress, while the others—Ella, Angel, and Max II—were in gowns a bit more poofy.

Airy was my flower girl, wearing a dress identical to mine and bearing a beautiful basket of flowers. For much of the preparation, she never stopped hugging me. Her feet, as usual, never touched the floor.

Iggy poked his head into my room. "Yo, Max?" he said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah?"

"_Original_ Max," Iggy clarified.

Max II looked like she wanted to dig a hole in the ground. She was utterly humiliated. "Don't worry about it," I whispered to her as I passed. "What's up, Iggy?"

"Well, I can't seem to get rid of Jeb. He wants to walk you down the aisle."

I scowled. "Tell him not a chance in hell."

"You sure?" Iggy said.

"Yeah," I said. "In fact, tell him I don't want to see his face at all for the rest of today."

"Can do," Iggy said. "Hey, I was just thinking, you know what would be super-hot? If you made out with your clone."

Everyone in the room paused to glare at him at that point. He shrugged. "I'm just sayin'," he remarked, before departing.

Keegan materialized at my side, already in her bridesmaid dress. "Hi, Max," she said.

"Oh, hey, Keegan. Thanks for coming! How was last night?"

Her expression became suddenly vacant. "Oh, Max, it was everything that was promised and more. Niles is with Fang. I don't want to take away from the joy of your day, though."

"Keegan, buddy, your joy _is_ my joy," I assured her. "You _will_ give me details."

"Okay," Keegan said.

"All right. Nudge, how's my hair look?"

Her head snapped to me. "Oh! Um… yeah, let me work on it."

She sat me down in front of the mirror and started braiding my hair. Her concentration and enthusiasm seemed kind of forced.

"Are you okay, Nudge-ster?" I asked.

"Yeah, fine," she said. "I was just, um… you know, taken by surprise when Iggy came in. I wasn't expecting to see him before the ceremony."

"But… Nudge, you see Iggy every day."

"I know," she said. "There's just… there's just… I don't know, Max, like Keegan said, I don't want to take your thunder. It's your day."

"I haven't got thunder, trust me, Nudge," I said.

"Still, I… you know, never mind. Forget I said anything."

I thought about that. Nudge didn't want to steal the thunder of my wedding day. "Nudge, are you pregnant?"

She made eye contact with me in the mirror, shocked, then nodded slowly.

I spun around and gave her a hug. "Oh, Nudge, that's great, baby. Airy's gonna have a little cousin!"

Everyone began to crowd around Nudge to congratulate her. "Stop it, stop it!" she said. "See, this is what I was talking about. This is Max's wedding day. Forget about me. And Iggy doesn't know yet, anyway. I'm going to be the one to tell him."

"Right," Keegan said. We all felt ourselves pushed away from Nudge and back to… well, me. I wasn't sure I liked that.

"Hey, Max," said a small voice from my doorway.

In the mirror, I saw Brigid. She was dressed the same as my bridesmaids.

"Who invited Pudding?" I asked the room at large.

"Max, don't judge me, please," Brigid said meekly. "I'm… feeling a lot better." She tapped her own head with her fingertips. "Much better. Please, I'm not trying to intrude. I'm just wondering if you'll forgive me."

I sighed. "You know, Brigid, Fang cares about you. He trusts you. So, I have to do the same. But… my bridesmaids, they're… well, they're people I love. If it's what Fang wants, you can be here for the wedding, but it just wouldn't be right for you to be a bridesmaid."

Brigid blinked slowly. "Okay, Max. I'm sorry."

She retreated.

"It's time, everybody," Angel said. "Airy, you're first."

Airy fluttered out the door and down the hall. I knew that the conference room was set up in some way or another… I hadn't been told exactly what it would look like. All the preparations were the work of Nudge.

Max II left the room next, then Ella. They walked side by side. After them came Angel, who met up with Gazzy near the end of the hall. Keegan was next, meeting with Niles, and finally Nudge with Iggy.

I was all alone. I started wondering if I should have taken Jeb up on his offer. At least then I'd have somebody to help me move along. But, no. I could do this by myself.

As soon as all the bridesmaids and groomsmen were in place, the music changed. I left my room and began to walk.

The conference room was dazzling. Pink roses everywhere, a great big wedding arch at the opposite end of the room.

There, under the arch, was Fang. My Fang.

Yeah, I realized. My Fang. In a matter of minutes, he would be mine forever. Yeah, baby, yeah. Take a look at who I get.

Fang looked perfectly composed. I had a feeling that I did not, but I knew that Fang was just as freaked out as I was. At least, that's what I told myself. There's still no real way into his head.

I joined him under the arch, near the doorway. As soon as the music stopped, Fang gasped and whipped out his pistol, pointing it over my shoulder.

"Fang!" I blurted. "You're wearing your gun to our wedding? Jeez, dude!"

Then I turned to see what he was aiming at, and I wished to God that I was packing heat too.

Entering our compound, dressed in a black tux and a top hat, was an all-too-familiar and very, very uninvited guest made of rubies, diamonds, and marble.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Jewel held up his four arms—two of them five-fingered and made of rubies, the other two made entirely of marble and ending in sharp blades. "Peace," he said. "I come here as a messenger."

I gritted my teeth, but knew better than to attack. Under normal circumstances, in a fight against Jewel I might last five minutes; in a gown, that would be cut down a little bit. "I'm trying to get married here," I snarled.

Jewel tipped his dorky top hat. "Apologies," he said. "I had no idea. As I said, I'm just the messenger. You don't shoot the messenger."

"Messenger for who?" Fang demanded, not lowering the gun. I wondered if Jewel knew what he was dealing with, staring down the barrel of that gun. Gazzy had created it for Fang years ago; its custom-fitted bullets, though tiny, created massive explosions on impact that could make steel splinter like wood.

"The Survivors," Jewel replied. "They recruited me."

Fang grinned. "Been demoted, have you?" I smiled, knowing how much Fang would love an excuse to shoot the gun at Jewel. If not for the strangely remorseful expression on Jewel's studded face, I would have told Fang to just go for it. This, after all, was the dude who wanted to thin the human population to one hundred—for no reason but that a small population would be easier for him to rule.

Jewel didn't rise to the bait, not even when Airy's kissing-ball hit him in the head. Airy had thrown it with remarkable accuracy, and had begun chanting "Go away, Drool, go away. Go away, Drool, go away."

Jewel turned an irritated eye to Airy. "It's _Jewel_," he said. "Anyway, I'm an emissary. Here to send a message on the activities of the Survivors. It's an 'etiquette of warfare' sort of thing."

"Go away, Drool, go away…"

"Will you tell your damn kid that my name is Jewel?"

"I prefer this way, actually," I said. "As for the etiquette of warfare, I was always taught to look that crap in the eye, then grab it by the throat and pound its head against the floor saying 'Fuck you, etiquette of warfare!'"

"Really?" Jewel said. "And who taught you that?"

"This guy," I said, jabbing my thumb over my shoulder.

Jeb froze. "How… how did you know I was behind you?"

"I'm not a total idiot, Jeb," I said. "I can hear."

Jewel observed Jeb. "Who's he? Your dad?"

I winced. "God, no. Not anymore."

Jewel cocked his head. "I see. Interesting. Anyway, the Survivors want to let you know… to not try to interfere with their design. If you do not bother them, then maybe—just maybe—you can be part of them."

"We could be Survivors?" I said sarcastically. "Sweeeeet."

Jewel's blade-arms lifted up higher. "Listen, kid. If it were up to me, I'd just barge in here and start chopping off heads, all right? But you're looking at a changed man. Changed droid, if you will. I don't know if you're interested in attacking me, in which case I will defend, but just in case, you should know that… you're no longer destroying a robot. You're destroying somebody's true love. And I finally understand what that entails."

"Oh, bite me, Jewel," Fang sneered.

"It's true!" Jewel insisted. "Please, I'm begging you to listen. If somebody hurt my Lao Hu, my lovely queen, I don't know what I'd do. Fang, I finally understand your anguish when Max was away. Leaving someone without their true love is infinitely more evil than destroying the entire planet, I now realize."

"I wouldn't go that far," Keegan offered.

Jewel noticed Keegan for the first time, and backed away in shock. "Keegan? What are you doing here?"

Keegan wrapped an arm around me. "Max is my best friend. I had to attend her wedding."

Jewel stared blankly. "I see…" He scanned the room for more familiar faces, and found one quickly. "Hi, Pudding."

Brigid laughed somewhat giddily. "Hi, Jewel!"

"I'm not buying this," I said. "Fang, give me the gun. I want to shoot Drool."

"It's Jewel!" Jewel said irritably. "Jeez, don't encourage this."

"Max, it's true," Keegan said. "Jewel and Lao Hu love each other very much. And… you have to understand, after three years of being in his organization, I've developed a bit of affection for Jewel."

I looked at Keegan. "Jeez, Keegan, I… that's very foolish."

I took the shot. Jewel caught the bullet neatly between his fingers, then set it on the ground and stomped on it. The resulting explosion did more damage to the floor than to Jewel's foot.

"Kids, as I said," Jewel said dangerously, "if I can't avoid a fight, I'm going to give it my all, which, as you know, is a lot. But I came here to convince you _not_ to fight. You cannot defeat the Survivors! But you can appeal to them for mercy. Perhaps they will let you join."

Jeb pushed past me and got in Jewel's face. "Maximum Ride will never cease fighting," he said confidently. "And your evil organization will crumble. Max will save the world."

"Jeb!" I said frantically. "Jeb, get away, you lunatic! You'll be killed!"

"We will all fight you right now, Jewel!" Jeb bellowed.

Jewel slashed Jeb's throat.

"NO!" I yelled.

Before I had time to process my own reaction, Jeb punched Jewel full in the face. I winced at that hopeless maneuver, but as it turned out Jeb's hand was fine. The punch got Jewel right in the eye, and the perfectly-cut diamond cracked as if it was cheap glass.

"What the hey?" Jewel demanded.

Jewel seemed almost frozen in shock, and I completely empathized. Jeb's throat was gushing blood, but he was very much alive and, quite literally, kicking. Jeb went for Jewel with martial-arts maneuvers I'd never thought possible, from him or anyone else. What was even more shocking than that was that Jeb's unarmed blows seemed to actually be causing harm to Jewel's casing.

"Wow," Iggy said. "Jeb's been holding back on us."

Fang covered his mouth in shock. "Hell, yeah, he has," he muttered. "Dear God, if he had taken me seriously when I asked him to fight me, I'd be very, very dead right now."

"It's like he's indestructible," Angel said. "And… I never _could_ read his mind or foretell his future. Jeb is something strange, Max."

Abruptly, Jewel wrapped his arms around Jeb's middle, neatly breaking his rib cage. Jeb cried out in pain.

"Whoa!" Jewel said, jumping back, alarmed. "I didn't think… whoa. How could punching me not have hurt you, but _that_ did? I… I didn't mean… I'm sorry!"

Jewel fled the compound instantly. Outside, we heard a jet rumble to life.

"Ray, Ram, Danny," I said. "Get in a plane. See if you can catch him."

The three jumbo-sized mutants took off down the hallway towards the hangar. Fang and I rushed to Jeb's side. Jeb was flat on his back, heaving in pain.

"Max…" he wheezed. "Maximum, I love you… I love you as a daughter… never forget that."

I leveled a stare at him. "Sure, no problem. Jeb… what the hell _are_ you?"

He passed out before he could answer, and I had a feeling he wouldn't have answered anyway.

"What do we do now?" Fang asked.

"Well…" I said. "Jeb's bleeding has stopped, he's breathing okay… let's leave him here on the floor and get married."

"Good deal," Fang said.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey, everybody, I know I have a reputation as a speedy updater, but that might change now, as I'm simultaneously working on this and a completely different fic. But this will always be my top priority! Never fear.**

**Doesn't seem to matter anyway, as the vast majority of my reviewers have vanished… but, what are you gonna do. Let's continue.**

**Chapter 12**

Well… Max and Fang got married, but as always, it had to happen with the aura of fear hanging all around us. Nearly eighteen years of life, and never a friggin' break.

I closed my eyes, for no real reason, as Nudge scooted into bed next to me.

I'd like to take a moment—it may have occurred to you, I'm seventeen, she's fourteen, and we share a bed; that may strike you as entirely wrong. And I get that, but… look, that's how a mutant freak has a relationship. "Socially acceptable" is not the top priority of people who spend every day trying not to get killed. Our top priority is "savoring the moment".

And so, I sleep with Nudge. That's just the way it works.

"Iggy," Nudge said quietly.

"Uh-huh?"

"Are you okay? You seem tense."

"Just a bit ticked off," I said. "It's not a life you get used to. Can't even get married without the door being busted in. Max and Fang are honeymooning in the exact same room where they spend every night, because we need to stay in the secure compound which—oops—ain't secure anymore. That's no way to spend an evening."

She caressed my face. She had no idea just how many sensory perceptions that evoked. "I think it's still secure… I think Jewel won't turn us in."

"Nudge, he's spent the last three years trying to wipe out the human race. He doesn't need to turn us in unless he feels like it. But I agree with you… he won't come back."

"Do you still want to marry me?" she said quietly.

"Yeah. I just wish that our married life could have a better fate."

She kissed me… very, very passionately.

"This was _not_ a very happy day, was it?" she muttered.

"Nope," I replied.

"Well, then, let's see if our night can be a little happier," she said, kissing me again.

I nibbled on her ear. "I couldn't, Nudge," I said.

"We need foreplay? I haven't got a problem with that. It's fun."

"No, Nudge, no foreplay. I'm saying that even if I _could_, um… 'perform', it still wouldn't be the right night. I'm too depressed."

"Well, yeah. I'm depressed too. If we do it, we'll feel better."

"No," I said. "I'm in the state of mind where nothing can make me feel better, so… I'm just gonna do nothing."

"Iggy, don't go to sleep," she pleaded.

"I'm sorry, pretty-pretty," I said. "I just don't want to have sex."

"Um… Iggy?" she said timidly. "I… I can't sleep if we don't have sex."

"What?"

"I know how you feel, Iggy. I want to go to sleep, too. But I can't do that without sex. It's the only way I can get to sleep every night."

"But… Nudge, we don't have sex every night."

She shrugged, her posture revealing a guilty feeling. "I spend a lot of nights just wandering around the compound, trying to keep myself entertained until morning."

I sat up, trying to stare her down. That's pretty tough when you've never actually stared at anything. "Nudge, how long has that been going on?"

"I don't know. Maybe a year?"

"My God. Nudge, baby, you should have told me! I don't want you to have to go without sleep."

"Didn't wanna bother you," she muttered.

"Baloney. As of right now, you are going to sleep every night. And I'll do what it takes."

She sighed. "Thank you."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

About ten minutes later (okay, five, but I _am_ improving) Nudge snuggled against me. I could tell that she had instantly become very, very sleepy.

"Iggy?" she said in a feathery sigh.

"Yeah?"

"I was going to tell you earlier today, but you just seemed so edgy…"

"You can tell me anything, sweetheart."

"We're having a baby, Iggy. I'm pregnant."

I wasn't even surprised. I just inhaled the wonderful scent of her hair, then let out a sigh. "That's stupendous." I felt her belly. I hadn't really noticed it before, but now that I had a name for it, I could tell that her body was different.

I paused suddenly. "Oh, God, Nudge… ew! What the hell did you just make me do?"

She giggled. "Iggy, it's normal. I've got hormones, and God knows you're still gonna need to pursue the urges of the flesh for the next… what's left of it, a week and a half? Two?"

"I suppose," I said. "I wonder why Max's pregnancy was so short? Do you think Jeb would know that?"

"Seeing as Jeb's just had his throat cut, let's not bug him just now," Nudge said dryly.

"Well, I can't wait to hold our baby," I said, kissing her. "I wish I could see it."

"You still could," she said. "Danny said he could fix your eyes; he probably still can."

I thought about that. "You know what? Maybe someday. When there's peace. But right now, I need to stay at the top of my game. If I did something as drastic as getting my eyesight back, I'd have to keep my eyes shut for days, and then I'd have to take a while to get used to having sight, and… well, it just wouldn't do us any good. I need to be in top-notch fighting condition. We all do."

Nudge kissed me. "Well, that's very mature, Iggy."

She fell asleep with her lips still attached to mine. I gently turned my head and wrapped an arm around her. "Goodnight, my sweetheart," I whispered.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

I stumbled aimlessly through the hallways, still in my wedding dress. The painful emptiness on the inside of my head was still there. The Voice was gone forever, I knew it in every cell of my body. But some part of me was determined to bring it back.

"Come on, Voice," I muttered aloud. "Please come back to me. I don't know what I'm supposed to do know. Tell me what to do. Tell me what I'm meant for. Tell me, please, what I should do…"

"_Quit bothering me and go have sex with your husband_," said a raspy voice in my ear.

I whirled on Fang.

"That's not what the Voice sounded like," I said, not bothering to fight the smirk.

"Hey, what do you want from me? I never heard the thing." He smirked as well, wrapping an arm around me. "Why do you want it back? I thought it was the bane of your existence."

"No, that's you."

"Ah."

"But I need it, Fang," I said. I was whining. Let the record show that that doesn't happen very often. "I need the Voice. It… I mean before it left, it said that I didn't need it anymore, that I would never have to hear it again. But I do! I do need it. I do need to hear it. I don't know where I'm going otherwise. And since it left, I've been feeling really light-headed and out-of-sorts… I don't know how I'm supposed to survive without it, Fang. It's as vital to my living as… well, you."

He chuckled lightly. "Max, I don't know what to tell you. Yours isn't exactly a common problem." He kissed me. "But you're going to be okay, I know it. We're all here for you. Especially me."

I kissed him back, sinking into it.

"Is Jeb okay?" I finally asked.

"Yeah, he's awake. You want to interrogate him before the honeymoon?"

"Yeah, I do," I said. "Come with me."

Ray and Ram were guarding the room where we had put Jeb, mostly to make sure he didn't disappear again.

"Is he still in there?" I asked.

"Yup," Ram said.

"Good work, boys," I said. I tapped each of them on the hand. Well, Ram has hooves and Ray has wings. No hands to speak of.

Fang and I entered the room. Jeb was there, sitting up, his neck wrapped in white bandages.

"Hello, Max," he said quietly.

"Jeb, what the hell—" I began.

"Wait," Fang said. "Jeb, I… I want to thank you for standing up for Max. It's more than we've come to expect from you, and… I for one am very grateful."

Jeb nodded. "Certainly, Fang. You're welcome."

"Jeb, what _are_ you?" I demanded. "Are you an experiment, like us?"

He took a breath before answering. "No, not so much like you at all. I've been fully human most of my life."

"But you're not now," Fang muttered. "You're impossibly strong—stronger than Jewel—and you barely reacted when you got your throat cut. What kind of DNA splicing would let you do that?"

"Well, my… _curiosity_, I suppose, began when I met the ICBG. You've shared these feelings, I'm sure; you must have wondered how their mutations—done to them at such advanced ages—could be so seamless, so perfect. None of them have any medical complications."

I shrugged. "I did wonder about that at first, but I gave up after a while. I figured that even if I asked, the explanation would be too complex for me."

"But it wouldn't be for _you_, would it, Jeb?" Fang said, his eyes narrowed.

"No, it would not," Jeb said, beaming at Fang. "Danny gave me some of the Big Guy's salvaged notes, and from there I figured it out. I managed to make improvements on it—physically, the ICBG have no human traits. Even mentally, though they manage to retain their personalities and intellect, they still have some animal instinct to deal with. And that's not to mention how huge they all are! But, weaving the Big Guy's notes with my knowledge about the creation of, for example, your own selves… I found a breakthrough in recombinant DNA."

I growled. "Jeb, I thought you weren't going to do that anymore."

"Max," he said gently. "Don't you think I understand now that we were cruel? That's why I freed you in the first place, eight years ago. I'm certainly repentant. That's why my only test subject is myself."

I relaxed. He wasn't stealing humanity from babies anymore. Good to know.

"And how'd the breakthrough go?" Fang asked.

Jeb grinned. "Quite fantastically. As you've seen, I'm practically invulnerable."

"How, though?" I demanded, frustrated. "There's no animal that can take the kinds of beatings you did from Jewel!"

"On the contrary, Max, there are many hundreds of thousands of animal species that can do that. I happened to pick my favorite."

Jeb removed his shirt. I glared at him suspiciously as he turned around.

I'd always been a bit edgy about the backs of normal humans. I always felt they looked so flat and weird without wings, since I was so used to my flock mates. My repulsion now, however, was of a different sort.

Jeb's back was most certainly _not_ that of a human.

His back was a shiny black carapace, breaking off into two pieces near his waist. The flourish at the bottom looked almost like fancy coattails, the primary difference being how incredibly creepy it was.

"What the hell is that?" I whispered.

Jeb's back vibrated, creating an incredibly loud noise.

Except for the piercing volume, I knew that noise. Some of the best nights of my life—romantic nights with Fang—had been backed by a constant barrage of that very noise.

Fang gaped—quite a sight, let me tell you. "You're a hybrid of a human… and a cricket?" he finally said.

"Very good," Jeb said, turning around and smiling. "Three years ago, around the time that Iggy and Nudge were first recovered from the ICBG, that's when I made this change."

"To a cricket?" I said, just to make sure.

"Yes, I grafted cricket DNA onto my own. I now have the distinction of being, in all likelihood, the most advanced recombinant life-form existing right now."

"'Cause you're a cricket," I said again.

"I like crickets!" he said defensively. "And think—think how well this works, now. Insects can be crushed between a person's fingers—because they're tiny. But if a cricket was as large as me, it would be completely impossible to kill. Of course, it would also be unable to breathe, which is why I couldn't have done this without the work of the late Pablo Rodriguez, truly a revolutionary man."

"Revolutionary gecko-man," Fang offered. I giggled.

"Fang, I'd like to apologize for the wound I caused you," Jeb said suddenly. "When you asked me to fight you, I was taken by surprise… some old combat instincts kicked in. I'm truly sorry."

"No worries," Fang said. He cracked his jaw. "All better. Rest up, Jeb. And again… thanks."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Though Iggy and Nudge had gone to bed, most everyone else was still milling around. I thought we could put off the honeymoon for a while, since we'd never really had an opportunity for a reception.

"Hey, Mom," I said, hugging her tightly. "I love you."

"I love you too," she replied.

Ella got in on the hug. "Best sister ever," she sang.

"Good deal," I muttered. "Good deal."

The Living Cell had itself flattened against a wall. I ran my hand along its side. "Hey, buddy," I said. "You're gonna be okay."

It rumbled contentedly.

Gazzy practically tackled me with a great big hug. "Never gonna leave us again, right Max?" he said hopefully.

"Never, little man," I promised. "Never ever." I squeezed him. "You don't have to worry about a thing."

"Well, congratulations," he said. "It's good that, after all these years, you've finally got what you've always needed."

I looked down at him. Twelve years old… insanely mature. My little Gazzy.

Angel's greeting was less detailed. We didn't need to exchange many words. We knew where we stood. We loved each other, we relied on each other.

So, there wasn't much ado before I asked her, "How's the future?"

"It's good, from what I can see," she said. "It's very, very good. But… you know, it's never going to be clear. The future. No one can know it for sure. Even Keegan has trouble."

I cupped her face in my hands, letting her know that I'd always have faith in all of her abilities. Her mind-reading, her communication with wildlife, and the hazy clairvoyance known only as "the ability to foretell shit". I named it that.

When I hugged Max II, she was still not used to the idea, and it took her many seconds to finally get her arms around me as well.

"Sister," I whispered in her ear. That's all she needed to know.

Finally, I got to Keegan and Niles. Keegan stood up on tiptoe to kiss my forehead, then pointed to Max II. "You're right about her," she whispered, before she and Niles faded away.

I turned to give Max II another look, but out of the corner of my eye I saw Angel scowling at her.

"Angel!" I blurted. "Will you get over this?"

"I… um… but, Max—"

I leapt on her. "What's your problem with Max?" I demanded. "Really? 'Cause if you have some solid information, I'd very much like to know."

"There's no information," she said. "I don't _need_ any information. She's just not one of us."

Max II slumped. I lunged at Angel again. "Yes she is," I snapped. "And if you don't think so, then _you_ are not one of us. So what'll it be?"

Angel's lips tightened. "Well, I suppose, given the choice, I'll stick around."

I stood up tall and addressed the entire room. "What holds us together, what holds the flock together, is love," I announced. "And if anybody is interfering with the love, then they have no business being in the flock."

"What's that have to do with this thing?" Angel muttered, jabbing her thumb at Max II.

"FYI, I love her," I snapped at Angel. Max II's knees buckled, her face gaping in admiration.

Angel snorted. "Not a good idea."

"Okay, you know what, Angel? You know why we keep you around? Because you've got superpowers. And anything you say should just be a reflection on what you're learning from _those_. Okay? If all you're going to do is voice your opinion, we don't need your input."

Angel glared at me furiously. The next thing I knew, I was down on the floor, rolling around in agony and clutching my head. When the mind attack finally faded away, I stood up. Angel was gone, but everyone else had stayed put, staring at me in shock.

"Where is she?" I growled.

"Her room, I think," Gazzy said anxiously. "Wow, you… you really pissed her off, Max."

I shrugged. "She pissed _me_ off."

Max II came up to me and held onto my shoulder. "It's like you picked me over her or something. Why?"

"Exactly what I said," I told the room at large. "I love Angel, but I cannot tolerate any kind of friction within the flock." To Max, I said, "You're not the one with the problem; she is. I don't like what I'm having to do, but I'm just trying to be fair."

Fang ran his fingers through my hair. "Damn good, Max," he muttered. "Damn good."

"Let's go honeymoon now," I said in a stage whisper. I _wanted_ everyone to hear that.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

The next morning, my first priority was to find Angel and offer an apology.

Most of the flock was already up and at it by the time Fang and I were up. The arena was pretty occupied. Most of them were practicing, but Angel was slouching in a corner.

I approached her. "Hey, tiny," I said cautiously.

"Hi, Max," she said coldly.

"Angel, I'm sorry," I said. "You know I didn't mean it."

"Yeah, I know."

"We don't just 'keep you around' for your powers. I love you very much, Angel."

"Uh-huh."

"I just can't… tolerate that kind of meanness. From anybody. If Max II was badmouthing you, I'd yell at her too."

"Uh-huh."

"So, yeah, I'm really, really sorry."

"Yeah."

I glared at her. "You know, Angel, I'm getting the vibe that my apology isn't accepted."

"No, no," she said. "It's all cool."

"Angel, something is still eating at you. What's wrong?"

She looked at me gently. "Max, I do accept your apology. I know you mean it. But… I can tell that you and I won't really be at peace until _I_ am at peace with… the 'thing' over there." She glared at Max II, who wilted, her self-esteem clearly shot. "And that's never gonna happen. She's never going to be part of my family."

"Why the hell not?" I bellowed.

"Listen, Max," she said. "Three or four years ago, when Max II was infiltrating us, trying to pretend to be you—"

"Not her fault," I interrupted. "She was under orders. She didn't know what else to do with her life. You can't blame her for that."

"No, but I _can_ blame her for what was going through her head that day," Angel sneered. "She _despises_ us, Max."

"Jealousy," I countered. "Like it or not, she's our kin now."

"It's what she thought of _me_!" Angel snarled furiously. "She thinks I'm a creep!"

"Angel, _everybody_ thinks you're a creep."

"Yeah, with an undertone of humor. She doesn't see any charm or lightness in me whatsoever. All she thinks is that I'm creepy."

I considered that. "Okay, I see what's going on," I said. "You're a petty bitch."

Angel's eyes narrowed. "Say that again," she growled.

"It's true," I said. "You're judging her because she didn't think much of you, waaaaay back when she thought we were her enemy. Highly bitchy, highly petty."

"I swear I'll throttle you," Angel growled.

I threw up my hands. "Okay, Angel, I get it! Get over it! She's one of us now. And I want _you_ to be one of us as well, so start gettin' friendly or else."

I stalked away, leaving the petty bitch to slouch in the corner.

Gazzy had been sparring with Total, but they had evidently noticed my shouting match with his sister. "Don't worry," I muttered to him. "She's stubborn… but we all are. I think love will win out."

"I do hope so," Total muttered. "Dearest Angel…"

"Yeah," Gazzy said. "Be a shame to lose such a valuable member of our team."

I spun on him. "What?" I demanded. "Valuable member of…? That's your sister you're talking about!"

"Right," he said. "Of course."

Total bared his teeth. "Back to practice?" he offered.

"Of course," Gazzy said, smiling.

It was a most un-Gazzy-ish smile. Despite the many deaths he'd caused, he'd always maintained an air of innocence, as recently as yesterday.

His grin right now was positively evil. And it was the evil grin that pervaded my thoughts while he drove a well-crafted sword through Total's spine.

Gazzy's cackle echoed through the arena. We were all frozen in shock—not something that happens often.

I was the first to regain a measure of sense. "Gazzy," I choked out. "Gazzy, you… you murdered Total…"

Fang and Iggy, thankfully, were a bit quicker on their feet at that moment. They whipped out guns and shot at Gazzy—at the imposter of Gazzy.

Gazzy whirled around, leaping and dodging the bullets way beyond his capabilities. As soon as they were forced to reload, Gazzy held still, then… _changed_. He rocketed up to a great height. His hair became long and black, going down to his waist.

_Her_ waist. The shape-changing murderer was a woman. A woman almost as tall as me, her olive-colored skin covered in blue speckles and stripes.

Her eyes were red. Red like fresh blood.

"Hello, Max," she said. Her voice was shrill, grating. "Your mother sends her regards."

"My mother?" I said. My eyes moved automatically to Dr. Martinez.

"Not her," the woman said. "Your _real_ mother, your… _spiritual_ mother."

Fang and Iggy took a few more shots. She was across the room instantly—it was as if she transcended the physical world itself.

"Janssen," I hissed. "Alive and still doing the Hitler schtick, eh?"

"Alive," she said. "And working for the betterment of the human race."

"That's what Hitler said."

"No. Your mother is a highly elite member of the Survivors."

"Damn them," Fang muttered. "_They_ should be the 'International Conglomerate of Bad Guys'. How surprised would you be if we found out the UD was one of them?"

The strange woman shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I'm brand new! You may call me Kellie."

"Oh, may we?" I sneered.

Kellie was in front of my face and poked me in the eye, then was at the other end of the room before I could retaliate.

"How's that possible?" Jeb breathed.

In an instant, Kellie was at Jeb's side. "You lose, cricket," she sneered.

She left the room. If not for the door swinging open and shut, you'd think she had just vanished.

"Come on," Fang said. "There's no way she can run as fast as we can fly. Let's get her!"

"Hold up!" I yelled. I blocked Fang's path, but my eyes were on Angel.

"You knew," I said. "You _knew_ that wasn't the real Gazzy. You knew she was going to kill Total."

"Yes, I did," Angel said calmly.

"And you didn't say anything," I continued.

"Hmm? I thought you didn't want my input anymore."

I made fists, shaking in pure rage. "Angel… you just let Total—a member of our family—die, just to prove a point?"

"Did it work?" she said innocently.

I advanced on her. "Did I call you a petty bitch?" I mused. "Wow, I'm surprised at my own tact. I meant psycho freak."

"You're about to cross some lines, Maximum Ride," Angel warned.

"Oh? You're fired from the flock."

"Fired?" Angel replied. "You can't do that."

"I'm the undisputed leader," I said. "I can fire you all I want. If you'd like to dispute my leadership position, we _do_ just so happen to be in an arena."

Angel glared. I felt a burning-hot, painful sensation in the center of my brain, but I fought past Angel's intrusions.

"We're good," she said. "Go ahead. Fire me. See how many locks you can open with five keys."

"Hey," I said. "Last time I checked, there are, in fact, _six_ artificially created people here." I wrapped an arm around Max II. "Who needs you?"

Angel bared her teeth. "Fine. Fine, fine, fine. I'll save the world _my_ way. See you later."

She went out the door, slightly less dramatically than Kellie did.

"Max," Nudge said shakily. "Max, what's happened?"

Fang rubbed my shoulders. "Take your time, babe," I said. "Any time, my love."

"We hold a funeral for Total," I finally said. "We find the real Gazzy. Then we spend every waking moment on the Survivors. I've had enough."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Finding Gazzy was no big task. He was in his room, knocked out. We managed to wake him up and explain things. Our cheered-up-ness didn't last very long, though.

Mom ruffled my hair. I wondered if it was necessary to tell her that _she _was my spiritual mother. I decided against it.

"Akila is with puppies," she said.

"Good," I said. "Good that Total has a legacy."

"Keep a cool head, Max," Mom said. "Everybody counts on you."

"Yeah, I know," I said.

Nudge rushed in, tears streaming down her face.

"Max," she said. "Max, I need—I need—I need to talk—to you—privately."

I didn't question her. We ducked into a side corridor.

"What's the matter?" I said.

She was absolutely insane with grief. It took her a few minutes to get more than one word out. I waited.

"Max, I—I had a—a miscarriage," she choked out. "I'm not gonna have Iggy's baby."

I hugged her tight. "Oh, Nudge, baby… sweetie, sweetie, sweetie, I'm so sorry."

"I can't believe it," she muttered. "I'm so upset. You have to help me, Max."

"How?" I demanded.

"I dunno," she said. "I just can't believe that this happened! I don't know how I'm gonna go on."

"Nudge, don't hurt yourself, if that's what you're planning."

"Of course not. I couldn't do that to Iggy. This will destroy him…"

"Nudge, why are you telling me this in private?"

"Because I can't bear to tell anyone else," she whispered. "I need _you_ to tell everybody."

"Are you sure?" I said.

"I can't tell Iggy," she said. "This will destroy him."

"Yeah," I said. "You said that already."

"Jeez, I never even saw it," she muttered. "And I'm sick with grief. How the hell do people stand to have abortions? They must feel such a connection. They must regret what they've done!"

"I'm sure a percentage of them do," I said dryly. "The exact same percentage of people who regret committing murder, I'd wager."

"So… will you tell Iggy for me, and everybody else? I don't think I could."

"Sure, Nudge," I said. "You… go to your room. I'll send Iggy in immediately. We'll put off finding the Survivors."

"I want to tell you not to do that, but… actually, if you could, that'd be great. I'm sorry, but I am _not_ in peak fighting condition. I'll sort this out."

"Of course," I said. "Of course. I love you, Nudge."

She hugged me tight, the tears coming back. "I love you too, Max. Will you always take care of me? Even though I'm a selfish little twerp?"

"Nudge, it's too late to go back on it. You're already _you_." I held her out. "I'll tell everybody."

**Sorry for being all political up there. Just drawing the conversation from real life. To be honest with you, I'm a firm believer in abortion in a "the fetus has become a parasite and is killing me" kind of situation, as opposed to "a kid would totally kill my career and personal life right about now", the latter of which is pure evil. There's my stance for you.**

**I just got **_**Fang**_**. I'm gonna read it now, and that's why, next time you see me, I probably won't have fingernails. Ciao.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Finished **_**Fang **_**in one night. Didn't completely chew off all of my fingernails, but I am pretty much miserable. I'll try not to let that interfere with this story, though.**

**I do like to think that I've kept the original tone of the **_**Maximum Ride**_** series, and in my mind, that entails pissing off the readers all the time. Am I right?**

**Chapter 16**

There was so much left to be said.

But that was all taken away by what Max had said to me. "You're fired from the flock."

Fired. Me. Angel.

It was unthinkable. I was heartbroken.

I tried not to be. I tried to remember the things Max had said. Petty bitch. Psycho freak. Fired from the flock. I tried to use those memories to forget about the flock, to tell myself, "Screw 'em."

That didn't work out. I missed them so much.

I had known that Nudge would miscarry. Should I have said something? Let Nudge known _before_ she fell in love with her baby, told everybody?

And I had known that on that morning, Gazzy wasn't really Gazzy. I'd known that the assassin, Kellie, was trying to kill Total… but I never could have imagined that she would actually succeed!

Perhaps I had been in shock. Perhaps that was why I went through with what I had been planning to say.

Sometimes there's no explanation.

Sometimes there's no excuse.

I'd done a terrible, terrible thing. Total was dead and it was my fault. I was exiled, and I deserved it.

"I'll save the world my way," I had said. I'd always wanted to, hadn't I? I knew the future. I knew the thoughts of those around me. I should be able to work alone… right?

I started poring over my thoughts. If I was saving the world my way, I'd better create myself a "step one".

Jeb. Step one was Jeb. His mystery was _still_ not solved, despite what the others thought.

A cricket. That's why he was invulnerable, sure. But that had only been for a short amount of time. And a cricket wouldn't be immune to my powers.

As far back as I could remember, I couldn't read Jeb's mind. It was like he didn't exist. For as long as I could foretell the future, Jeb was a complete blank.

Jeb could do a dead-on impression of the Voice. That was impossible. I'd listened in on the Voice within Max's head. It was unidentifiable. No human could imitate it. And how did Jeb even _know_ what it sounded like?

Puzzles and puzzles. And a cricket was not the answer.

What else sounded exactly like the Voice? Someone who Max had never met. Someone who very, very few people had ever met.

"So tragic, what's happened to you," said a mysterious voice, one that sounded exactly like _the_ Voice.

I spun in the air. It was the leader of the Survivors. A projected image of a hunched figure shrouded in a thick black cloak.

"No one values Angel anymore," the leader said.

This Survivor had been whispering in my ear every night for years. I didn't trust it. I knew what it represented.

"_I_ know your value."

Soulless. Evil. Inhuman. I knew that's what they were. But their offers were so _tempting_…

"I _did_ offer for the flock to become Survivors, did I not?"

A single clawed hand, clutching a scythe, extended from beneath the cloak. I flinched away.

"Perhaps we could start with you," the leader finished.

I glared. "You sent that killer mutant. How am I to believe, now, that you actually _want_ my flock to survive?"

"Kellie acted on her own," he or she insisted. "Please, there is no apocalypse planned. Only purification. Healthy. Holy."

"Sure," I said.

"It is true. And _you_… well, simply put, I can give you anything you desire. You wish to _know_. You wish to _see_. And you wish to lead. I can give that to you."

I wanted to scream at it.

The opportunity never came.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Marian Janssen opened the doors to her private quarters. The instant she did, she was knocked off her feet.

A slender, red-eyed creature crouched at her desk.

"Kellie, you devil," Janssen said affectionately.

Kellie coiled her arms around Janssen. "I did it, Mommy," she said in her piercing voice. "I followed Jewel… I went after them…"

"How many are dead?"

"Only the dog," Kellie said. "I'm sorry, Mommy. There wasn't enough time for more."

Marian ruffled Kellie's long black hair. "You must leave here, Kellie. Jewel is coming here to meet me."

Kellie giggled. "Silly, silly Jewel. All right… bye-bye, Mommy."

"See you soon, my unholy assassin."

Kellie giggled as if it was an adorable pet name, then vanished out a secret panel in the back.

Jewel entered, accompanied by Lao Hu, Lang, and Shey.

"It has come to my attention that the four of you are… less than thrilled with your involvement in this organization."

Shey rolled her eyes. "That's all these two," she said, pointing to Jewel and Lao Hu.

"Absolutely," Lang agreed. He was a deceptively chubby and cheerful-looking man who was in fact a deadly warrior. "We love the place. We'd actually _enjoy_ living through this whole thing. I don't know what their deal is."

"Well, then," Janssen said, eyeing the other two. "Mr. Jewel, Miss Lao Hu…?"

"Miss Cho," Lao Hu corrected.

Janssen looked over her papers. "This says your name is Cho Lao Hu."

"Yes. Family name Cho, given name Lao Hu. I'm Chinese."

Shey rolled her eyes a second time. "You know, Lao Hu, I'm just as Chinese as you, and I've got no problems Romanizing my name."

"Surname comes first," Lao Hu grumbled. "It's important."

"Be that as it may," Janssen interrupted. "What complaints do you have? We _can_ accommodate you, you know."

Lao Hu glared. "I don't think you can," she said. "Your world is an inhuman, monotonous place. My Jewel had a vision, something better. He is more human than anyone here!"

Janssen narrowed her eyes.

"Damnation, Lao Hu, I always knew you'd be the death of me," Lang muttered.

"Well, if we can't improve," Janssen said slowly. "There's not much we can do for you. We may have to… kick you out."

Jewel stuck a bladed arm in between Lao Hu and Marian. "Touch this woman, and you die along with everyone who supports you," he hissed.

Kellie returned and knocked Jewel to the ground, then picked up both Jewel and Lao Hu and tossed them off of a balcony, before returning to Janssen's office and her secret cubby.

All of that happened in the span of a single second. Only Janssen knew Kellie, and so only she knew how Lao Hu and Jewel had vanished so utterly.

Jewel lifted his head. Lao Hu's ankle had been twisted in the fall. "Oh, no," he said. "Oh, dear God. What have they done to you?"

Lao Hu grimaced, trying to keep it light. "Well, it's not as bad as the time you broke both of my arms."

Jewel helped her to her feet. "Ah, Lao Hu, I can't stand to see them doing these things to you. You're so _delicate_." He held her closely and brushed her hair with his blades. "Lao Hu, my raven, my dearest love." He held her out at arm's length. "I've been miserable. I don't see any point to this any longer. All I have is you."

"And I you," Lao Hu agreed. "So… what shall we do?"

"Someone is pulling the strings of these 'Survivors', and I intend to find out who that person is," Jewel growled. "And I'm going to kill them."

Lao Hu rested her head on Jewel's shoulder. "I'll help you, my dearest. I'll help you kill them _all_."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"Gazzy? Um… hey, Gazzy?"

I blinked my way out of my mortified daze. Iggy was calling me. "Yeah?" I said.

Iggy and Nudge were huddled together on the couch, drenching each other with tears. "Could you get us a blanket?" Iggy said quietly.

I did so immediately. I knew what they were getting at. Too distraught to move—I knew how they felt. They'd probably keep sobbing into each other until morning… heck, I could barely move myself. Things had never, ever been this… _wrong_.

I covered them in the blanket, then went back to my chair, staring off into space. I started flipping a coin, catching it perfectly every time even though I wasn't really paying attention to it. Airy swooped in on Nudge and hugged her tightly. "Auntie Nudge?" she said.

"Hi, Airy," Nudge muttered.

"Don't cry, Auntie Nudge," she whispered.

"I have to, Airy," she choked out. "I… I just have to."

Airy stroked Nudge's hand. "Your baby went away?" she said.

"It died, Airy. My baby died."

Airy looked down sadly, then looked back up at Nudge. "You still have _one_ baby," she said, trying to smile brightly.

Nudge giggled weakly and stroked Airy's curls. "Yes, I do," she said. "I love you, Airy."

What appeared to be an oil slick crept across the floor, then up to the couch. It all formed together into the one-foot-wide version of the Cell. It leaned on Iggy and Nudge, rumbling gently, comfortingly. Iggy stroked it as if it was a cat.

Max II strolled stiff-legged into the room. She blamed herself for what happened with Angel. I was tempted to blame her as well, but I resisted that.

Max tried to comfort her clone as she passed. Max wore her hair straight and down past her shoulders; Max II kept hers short and deliberately untidy. That was the best way to tell them apart.

"We need a new home," Max II said.

Everyone looked at her shocked—hadn't the original Max said that once? Or had it been Fang? _Everything_ seemed like it happened so long ago… like the only recent memory was Total's murder, Angel's betrayal…

"Jewel found us," Max II continued. "And Kellie. We probably don't have long before the entire Survivors' organization marches right through our door."

"Maybe not," Max said. Her voice broke slightly, and it sounded like she was trying to convince herself of it. "Jewel was just a messenger, and Kellie… you know, maybe she was just following Jewel, acting alone…"

Max faded off. We knew that Max II was right.

"Unbelievable," Fang growled. "Damn Angel! Damn her! If I ever see her again, she will have _so_ much to answer for… I hope she spends eternity in hell…"

"Don't," Max II said. "Don't wish that for Angel. Don't disrespect her. She did a terrible thing, but, you know, she's still… her."

I stopped flipping my coin, and stared at Max II. Everybody seemed to be staring at her, and as she looked around she seemed embarrassed.

"Or not," she muttered. "Hey, I don't know nothin'." She flopped down into the chair right next to mine. "Hey, Gaz, could I borrow that coin?"

I gave it to her. She tried flipping it, but it cracked to the ground and rolled away. "Can't even flip a damn coin," she muttered to herself, standing up to get it.

I watched her go. Yeah, she looked eighteen, but she was still as uncoordinated as the five-year-old that she really was. Despite that, I had to believe that she was, for the second time in a minute, right. That I'd get my sister back…

Max II sat back down and gave my coin back without even trying to flip it a second time. I started absently flipping it again, and she smiled at me. I wondered why she was so friendly to me. Was it because I'd let her carry the gurney, effectively being the first one to cooperate with her? Or was it because I was the only single guy in the flock?

Jeez, I hope it's the first one. The second one would be creepy…

I started reigning in my thoughts, then remembered that there was nobody around who could read them. Angel was gone. I could think freely.

That really sucked.

I looked around at the flock. Max and Fang. Iggy and Nudge. Max II, Airy, the Cell. Me.

No Angel. That was just plain wrong and everybody knew it. We were one miserable crew.

Max stood up and tapped Fang on the shoulder. "Come on, babe," she said. "Let's you and me make everybody some dinner."

"I want something else," Airy said instantly.

I admit it—I was the one who started the giggles. I couldn't keep my snort from escaping my nose. Then Nudge started quivering with laughter instead of tears. Finally, Max II broke out into guffaws—I wondered if she knew what she was laughing about, then figured that somebody had told her what had sold her out all those years ago—and everybody else caught them too.

Max couldn't cook, and everybody knew it. There it was, that was all we'd needed—that was our anchor back to being the old flock again.

I knew, then, that we could still live as well as survive. Maybe it would take a while, but we could.

**Hey, remember way back in "In My Absence", when I said, "you can't build a soul", saying it was a prediction for "FANG"? Remember how in "FANG", there's a passage about how "the soul can't be programmed"? Pretty close, huh? I know what that clown Patterson is up to.**

**Of course, I didn't expect the rest of the story. I just pray that Max will never, ever fall for Dylan no matter what. It seems like a possibility! If it happens, I'll be all "NOOOOOOO". That's all I'm saying.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

We gathered in the conference room. Ram walked in bearing Total's body on a pillow. He set it down in the center of the conference table.

I let out a long sigh. Max put a hand on my shoulder. "Fang, babe, everybody thinks you should be the one to… say a few words about Total."

I turned to stare at her—nobody had told me that before, and I certainly didn't have anything prepared—but I didn't argue. I stood up.

"Well…" I began, aware of all the eyes on me. "…Total. You know, there's a lot that can be said about Total. He was a hassle to lug around all the time. He could out-babble Nudge. He was completely oblivious to the reality of life as a flock member. But I think the important thing to remember is that… he was part of our family. He was our equal. I think I can safely say that everyone loved Total." Several eyes dipped, realizing the truth of my words.

Akila rested her head on the table, staring at her dead husband. She let out a prolonged whine.

"So… Total, my friend, guardian of my family, I wish you luck on whatever journey might be in store for you. I hope you understand that none of us will ever forget you… and that we'll take very good care of your six puppies."

"Six puppies?" Nudge muttered. "Akila gets six children and I can't even have _one_? What the hell?"

I turned to her, confused. But she was smiling, and there was no pain underneath it. She had worked her way past her grief. She leaned her head on Iggy's shoulder, and stroked Akila. She saw my eyes on her, and motioned for me to continue.

"Um… anyway…" I mumbled. "Goodbye, Total. We love you. You live on in all of us. And… and you'll have your vengeance."

I pulled an 8x10 photo out of an envelope. Nudge and I had pulled up a search on the Internet, and had found a homepage dedicated to one "Kellie the Unholy Assassin". The page was brief, offering no contact information—not that we'd expected any contact information—but the photo left no doubt that we'd found the right person.

"We'll find this creature," I said. "Kellie the Unholy Assassin will pay for what happened to you… and so will Angel," I growled. I put the picture away. "So… Total, even though you're gone now, we'll hold you close in our hearts. Goodbye, my good man. We'll see you later."

I sat down. Max clasped my shoulder, congratulating me for the impromptu eulogy.

Ram picked up Total again, and took him outside for burial. No one followed.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Later, I met up with Iggy and Nudge in the living room. They were snuggling, doing a little bit of making out.

"Hey, guys," I said. "Mind if I hang out?"

They straightened. Nudge leaned on an arm, and Iggy took the middle. He tapped the third cushion. "Have a seat, dude," he said.

I did. I let out a sigh, but didn't say a word.

"Any ideas for the new home?" Iggy asked.

"None," I said. "Three years we've lived here! It seemed like no one could ever find us. Now that they have… how the hell are we going to find another place as safe as this?" I turned my eyes to the ceiling. "I am _not_ going to let the flock be fugitives again," I growled. "If someone's after us, I for one am gonna face 'em head-on."

Iggy pounded my shoulder. "Good thinking, big bro," he said.

I chuckled lightly. I was the shortest person in the room, but I was the "big bro". I'm six-five, but Nudge has an inch on me and Iggy has an entire foot. And there's entirely the possibility that I'm done growing and they're not.

Max is definitely at her full size, and she's only six-two. Neither Jeb nor Dr. Martinez are above average height, so I guess it makes sense that Max is only _slightly_ freakishly tall.

"Where's Max?" Nudge asked.

I blinked. "I don't know. I'm getting the vibe that she's doing something stupid. Is it just me?"

"No, I'm feeling it," Iggy said. "We'd better go check it out."

All three of us stood up in unison and went off to find Max.

What was the "vibe" we were feeling, you may ask? I guess after knowing each other for so long, the flock are attuned. Or maybe we just know Max well enough to figure out when she's gonna do something stupid.

We grabbed her right before she walked out the door with Airy in tow. I spun her around to face me.

"What's going down?" I asked.

She licked her lips nervously. "Just… what you said in the… the eulogy," she said. "I'm… I'm gonna go figure out how to take down the Survivors."

"And you're taking Airy?" I challenged.

Max shrugged. "She wanted to come."

"I wanna help Mommy, Daddy," Airy said.

"Max, you promised," I said. "You promised me you'd never take Airy—or yourself—away from me again."

"I'm coming back, Fang," Max said quietly.

"I don't care. The promise didn't specify an amount of time. Don't leave me again, Max."

Max blinked rapidly. "Well… you can come too," she said.

"No," I said. "The flock doesn't separate. Never."

I hadn't expected to make Max change her mind that easily… but she did. I guess marriage had made her an easier opponent.

"So, everybody's coming, then?" she said quietly.

"Nobody's going anywhere," I said. "We have more than a flock to look after now. We're staying here until we really know where we're going. Not until we really know where our new home is."

She nodded slowly, then didn't speak for a few moments. When she did, all she said was, "I love you, Fang."

"Me too, babe," I said. "Always."

"So, what do we do?" she asked.

"I don't know."


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Gazzy stepped into the room. "Max," he said. "Max, come here. I think I know how we're going to find the Survivors."

"Really?" I said. "How?"

"Come on," he said. "Danny's working on it down in the computer room. Let's go."

He led me, Fang, Iggy, and Nudge down one of the longer hallways in the compound. He even paused to collect Max II from her room, and the six of us went down together. Gazzy had an odd spring in his step.

"You're awfully cheerful, Gaz," Max II noted. "I thought that Angel leaving would have torn you apart."

"It did, at first," Gazzy admitted. "But… you know, she chose her own path. She always does. Soon, she'll choose to come back to us… and, I know we can't just welcome her back with open arms after what she did, but… it'll still be good to have her back."

I nodded slowly. "You're really mature, Gazzy," I said. "I admire the way you've grown up a lot."

"Thanks," he said, beaming at me. "What I wonder, though, is why you're the one who's supposed to 'save the world', but Angel is the one with all the amazing powers."

I shrugged. "Maybe she's just self-mutating in a different way than I am. Maybe the only superpower I need is my spunk."

Max II laughed, and I smiled at her. Her laugh had become a lot more pleasant since she'd come to stay with us, now very melodic and sincere, but it still sounded nothing like mine. I think it made for a pretty nice distinction between the two of us.

"Say, Max, do you have any extra skills?" I asked her.

She thought about that. "Well… when I was foraging and hunting, out in the wilds… I found that I could ask the animals where the best places were to find food, or where the best shelters were, and they told me what they knew."

"So, you can talk to animals?"

"No. Just… just kind of get a sort of impression of their memories. I can't make them do what I want, or speak to them myself… but I can feel what's happened to them, in their life."

I was impressed. "That's really interesting," I said. "You know, I wouldn't mind a couple of extra powers. What do I have, high-speed and gills?"

"Maybe more powers will come up as you need them," Fang suggested.

"Yeah. Still, I'd like something really cool. Like shooting fireballs from my fingers, or… like, reading the future as I climax. Something like that, something really…" I realized that everyone had stopped walking, and I turned back to them. "What's goin' on?" I wondered.

"What… what was that last bit?" Gazzy asked shakily.

"What, the… oh, crap, did I say 'as I climax' out loud?"

Fang laughed. "Yeah, you did."

"All right, forget that. Let's keep walking."

We kept walking, and I tried to let it drop, but I could still feel all of them staring at me. Finally, I decided I should explain. "That, um… reading the future thing, that's from a novel I read back when I lived with Albert and Felicia. That was the, um, power of one of the characters from my favorite science-fiction erotica book."

"You have a 'favorite' science-fiction erotica book?" Nudge repeated.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I do!" I fumed. "Come on! Remember that day I turned up, and we were all happy, like 'ooh, Max is back, everybody is alive', all that… yeah, I'd like to remind you that at that moment, I hadn't had sex in three years. So, yeah, all your big family hugs? They did something for me! Adult fiction was all I had during that time."

The flock tried to stifle their giggles. Fang rubbed my shoulder. "You don't have to explain," he said. "I know what you're talking about. Ignore the rest of these clowns."

Gazzy took us downstairs to the computer room. It was a highly advanced system, with many screens. They were all of different sizes, but every one was bigger across than I was tall.

Danny Brooks was manning the station. A five-foot-tall octopus with bright red skin, he was dressed in a many-sleeved polo shirt. Apart from the shirt, the only human feature left on him after his experiment was the intelligent glint in his eyes.

And Danny had quite a bit more than normal human intelligence. Already a genius, as were Ray and Ram and all the other members of the group that once called themselves the ICBG, Danny's molding with the octopus found his IQ and that of the mollusk multiplied together, making Danny nothing less than the most brilliant person in the history of the planet.

Thank God he's on our side.

"So, you've figured out a way to track the Survivors?" I asked.

"Gazzy figured it out," Danny said. "He, ah, can probably explain it better than I can, actually."

"When Kellie knocked me out," Gazzy said, "I had queso dip in my hair."

I blinked. "Um… I'm sorry…?"

"I was eating chips and dip in the middle of the night," Gazzy said excitedly. "And some of it got in my hair."

"Wait, what kind of dip?" Iggy said excitedly. "Was it _my_ dip?"

"Does it matter?" I demanded.

"Yup, it was, and yup, it matters very much," Gazzy said. "I was feasting on Iggy's top-secret queso dip. And when Kellie KO'd me, it got all over her hands."

"And?" I said, not meaning to be rude, but genuinely not knowing where this was headed.

Danny turned around in his swivel chair. "Iggy's secret queso dip recipe has a highly unique energy signature. I can use the computer to track it. Any residue of it left on Kellie will tell us exactly where she is."

Danny hit the enter key with a tentacle. The screen showed a map of the world, and a little red light started beeping in Norway.

"And where she is, the Survivors are," Danny finished.

"Can we get a satellite image?" Gazzy asked.

Danny clicked, and another screen showed the image of the red dot. We could quite clearly see an enormous, round structure, made of the blackest stone.

"And we found this place because you got dip in your hair?" I said. "You have to be joking."

"I don't joke about queso dip, Max," Gazzy said solemnly. "This is where the Survivors live, no question about it."

"I ain't eatin' that dip anymore," Fang muttered.

Iggy rolled his eyes. "It's harmless, dude. Just… _distinctive_. If I recall, that's exactly why everybody loves it."

I looked at the satellite image again. "Nice place to make an evil lair, I gotta admit. Kind of has a 'fire-and-brimstone' look to it."

Something rumbled angrily behind me. I spun; I hadn't noticed the Living Cell looming over me. But, I noticed, it appeared to be made of the same material as the Survivors' HQ was. "A relative of yours?" I asked it. It chuckled. Every day, it seemed to get more comfortable with making noises that we could understand, though it still took hours to say any actual words.

Suddenly, I noticed Brigid hanging out near the back of the room. "Hey, Brigid," I said cautiously. "You here to help us?"

"No," she said quietly. "It looks like you've got it all figured out."

When I turned around, the blip on the world map wasn't in Norway anymore, but in Madagascar.

"What the hey?" I said. "Danny, what'd you do?"

"Nothing," he said. "The signature is in Madagascar now. It moved there instantly!"

"Whoa," Nudge said. "If that's how fast Kellie can run, I say we all just fall down right now, save her the trouble."

"No," Gazzy said. "'Cause, look, the tower isn't in Norway anymore. Dan, find the new signature."

Sure enough, on the screen with the satellite image, there was no sign of the Survivors' tower. But when Danny moved the image to the blip in Madagascar, there it was.

"The tower… travels," Fang said quietly.

A few seconds later, the signature was coming from Siberia. And it didn't take a lot of effort to figure out that the round, black structure was there too.

"It travels _constantly_," I added. "Oh, this is not good. I'm freaking out."

This was one of the times that I needed the Voice to come speak to me… but, that obviously couldn't happen. I could still feel the nothingness within my brain.

I hated that nothingness. I wanted to kill that nothingness. But you can't kill a bubble of air on the inside of your own head. I'd have to learn to live with it.

I was really edgy. And that wasn't helped by watching the Survivors' tower go from Siberia to Fiji, then Sudan, then Alberta…

I turned around and started walking the halls. Ideally, I would have liked to fly around, but at that moment my survival instincts told me that leaving the compound would be dangerous.

Jeb followed me out of the computer room. I hadn't even noticed that he was in there.

"Jeb," I said. "Jeb, do you know what the Survivors' plan is?"

"It doesn't matter," Jeb said. "If not them, then another. And I'll miss you very much, Max."

I stared at him. I wanted to question him, but my other need—my need for the Voice—was too powerful. "Jeb, can you do the Voice?" I asked him. "Like you did before? I'd like to hear it."

Jeb frowned. "Max, if your Voice left you, that means you don't need it anymore."

"I do, though," I said. "I do need it. Please, Jeb?"

He shook his head. "I can't just up and _do_ the Voice. I mean, you know what the Voice sounded like! No one could have just up and imitated it without… outside help."

"What, did you need some kind of device?" I said excitedly. "Show it to me!"

"I don't have it," Jeb said.

"Jeb," I said dangerously.

"I can't do the Voice for you, Max," Jeb said. "And if I could, I wouldn't, for moral reasons. You need to be independent from it now."

Jeb walked away. Fang came up and wrapped his arms around me. I realized that I had let something get past me, and I started after Jeb. "Hey, Jeb, about that 'if not them, then another' stuff…"

Jeb was halfway into his room. "That's for another time, Max, my daughter," he said. He shut the door. It was locked and soundproof.

"Son of a bitch escaped from me again," I muttered.

"Can't you just ignore him?" Fang asked.

"I can," I said. "But I feel like I shouldn't. I dunno."

I noticed Brigid leaning against a wall, edging towards me.

"Brigid, you're lurking," I said. "You have something to say?"

She walked up. "Um… yes," she said. "Yes, I um… I um… I was gonna…"

"You have something to say _without_ staring at my underage husband's abs?" I cut in.

Her eyes snapped to Fang's face, then to mine. "Um… yes… Max… um, your mom and I, we've had contact with our, um… uh, contacts. From the CSM. There's a… gathering… of sorts. In a safe place. A very safe place."

"Uh-huh," I said.

"We should all go there," Brigid said. "Because that's where the CSM is building up their army."

"Army?" Fang repeated.

"Yeah," Brigid said, gaining confidence now that she had gotten her point across. "And, since there's been talk of leaving the compound, I think we should clear out and go there."

"And my mom is with you on this?" I said.

"Uh-huh," she said.

"I'm gonna ask her about it," I warned.

"Go ahead," Brigid said. "I'm not lying to you. This gathering, this army… it's been put into place for your sake, Max. To help _you_ defeat the Survivors."


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Our plane dropped into the so-called "safe place".

Obviously, we didn't just up and get-r-done. First I consulted with Mom, who did in fact give me the same information that Brigid had. Then we'd gone through the entire compound, making sure we weren't leaving anything interesting behind. We weren't going back to that Italian grove ever again.

_Then_ we all got on the plane—the ICBG actually had a whole hangar full of them—and took off for the safe place. It was in Ireland.

It was under the open sky, so I liked the place already. Though, of course, then I wondered how it could be a safe place if it wasn't underground. Damn my brain for making everything so joyless.

Our plane settled in. Evidently we had been expected, for there was a very non-hostile-looking committee there to welcome us.

I was the first to step off. The other five, including my clone, fanned out behind me, while Airy perched on top of my head.

Something happened then that I wasn't used to: I checked on the other people besides the flock to see how they were. Normally, it'd just be the flock, and then I'd stop caring. But here, there was Brigid, and Akila, and Mom, and Ella. Ella carried the travel-sized Living Cell.

"Hey, Ella," I said. "I'm really sorry about this."

She frowned. "Why?"

"I feel like I've taken a normal life away from you," I said. "These past couple of years, you could have gone to school, dated, gotten your license…"

"No, I couldn't have," she countered. "I moved into that compound with Mom because, like her, I'm a target now. That is the cost of having you for a sister, and you know what? It's totally worth it."

I smiled. "Thanks, El."

"I wanna be just like you, Max, you know that? That's what I strive for."

"Ah, you don't wanna be like me," I muttered. "You'd be all gangly and you'd have to eat all the time."

"Hey, I would _love_ to eat as much as you do and still be as skinny as you are."

We shared a laugh. Like that was a lifestyle decision on my part…

Danny, Ray, and Ram began to exit the plane, but I held up a hand. "You three hang back for a bit," I said. "The CSM is real open-minded, but I don't know if the world is ready for you guys yet."

"Nonsense," called a voice at the foot of the ramp. It was John Abate. "We'd love to meet the greatest minds of our time, no matter their exterior."

I checked the plane. Just Jeb. Right on, now I can stop caring. I strolled down the ramp, Airy giggling with every step.

"Hey, John," I said. "It's been a while. Nice to see you." I shook his hand. I was surprised to find that I totally meant my greeting.

"Hello, Max," said a woman. It took me a second to place her… ah, yes, Hawaii. "Dr. Akana, right?" I said.

"Yes," she said. "But of course, you're free to call me Noelani."

What went through my head was, _Yeah, as if I'm gonna put any effort into pronouncing that._ What came out of my mouth was, "Will do. I didn't know you were CSM."

"I wasn't the first time we met," Dr. Akana said. "But I am now. I had to come here. I follow the blog, you see, and I couldn't turn down the opportunity to meet Airy…" She stopped talking as I glared at her. She viewed my daughter as something fancy and scientific to ogle? Not a vote of favor in my book. She seemed to realize what was going on, and started to apologize.

But Airy evidently didn't care about being put on exhibit. She hopped off of my head and gave Dr. Akana a great big hug.

"Oh, my," Akana said, surprised. She laughed. "What a sweetie! My goodness, she weighs _nothing_!"

"Who else is around here?" I asked. "Anybody else we know?"

"I don't think so," John said. "But you may have noticed—the CSM has grown."

"No kidding," I said. I looked around. There were soldiers, scientists, politicians, people in metal suits, people using hover-boards, one person who looked an awful lot like Mr. T… "_Mucho_ expansion," I said. "Way to go."

"Aaron?" Nudge blurted.

I turned to her. "What was that, Nudge?"

"I could have sworn I saw Aaron," she muttered.

"Aaron, your boyfriend from Utah?"

"Yeah," she said.

"Didn't Jewel… isn't he dead?"

Nudge shook her head rapidly, to clear it. "Yeah, Aaron's dead," she said. "I'm seeing things."

Nudge glanced around. Only the two of us had heard our exchange, as far as I could tell, and Nudge seemed to reach the same conclusion.

I scanned the many figures throughout the grassy field, most of them practicing for some sort of battle or another. I spotted two familiar figures with their backs to me: a seagull, only slightly shorter than Iggy and much broader, and a coiled brown-and-black serpent some eighty feet in length.

My heart leapt with joy.

"Albert!" I called, running toward them. I figured that if I called for Felicia, then Albert would look at me like I was an idiot.

But he didn't. When I reached them, the corners of Albert's beak went up in a smile, and he wrapped his wings around me. Felicia rubbed her face against mine.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded of them. "I thought you were going to stay on your island forever. It's so great to see you guys!"

"We were contacted by the CSM," Albert said, in his Boston-grown bass voice. "They told us about this meeting, and convinced us to add two more minds and two more guns to the cause. See, they told us that… that our life of 'watching the world go by' wouldn't really work out if the world wound up being destroyed." His voice was tinged with bitterness… toward himself.

"Hey, you guys aren't cowards," I said. "That was below the belt, what they said to you. I'm gonna talk to somebody about that."

Felicia held up a coil to stop me. "It's okay," she said. "It doesn't matter how they got us here… the important thing is that we're here now." Her voice was deep and distorted. See, in addition to being a snaky mutant, _and_ possessing a mind so brilliant that the United States government saw her as a danger to be locked up and never seen again, Felicia is also deaf. Triple the misfortune. But after all of that, she had her soulmate Albert, and her snake senses gave her something not quite like hearing but close enough. Felicia gave me a fanged grin, and I returned it. Not the fangs, the grin. You know what I mean.

"Well, it's good to have you here," I said.

"Are you staying?" Albert said.

"Yep. Me and the flock."

"You found the flock?" Felicia said excitedly. "Oh, that's terrific, Max."

"Fang and I are married," I said, showing them the ring. "So, do you guys want to see your old teammates?" I pointed to the ramp, where Danny, Ray, and Ram were still being interrogated by some of the CSM's scientists.

"Danny! Twins!" Albert called. His enormous voice carried, and the three others noticed him. They had trouble getting out through the tangle of scientists, but pretty soon, another reunion was taking place.

I snuck through the crowd and reunited with the flock. Airy was at Fang's feet, standing on the ground for the first time in who knows how long… and their eyes were aimed skyward.

"What's going on?" I asked Iggy.

"What are you asking me for?" Iggy said. "All I know is that John said if we look to the sky, there are some people showing up who we might want to meet."

I stood between Fang and Max II, leaning on them both. "What's he talkin' 'bout?" I asked.

"I really don't know," Fang said. "But John said any second now."

"There!" Max II said, pointing. "There they are."

"Oh my God," Nudge said.

Three shapes were flying through the sky in an arrow formation, straight for us.

They were human shapes. Humans with wings.

Exactly like us. Except (and don't ask me why this was the first word to come to my head) they were… _sexier_ than us.

The flock flew in formation all the time, and I had seen video of it. We were impressive. But these three… their formation and synchronized flight was flawless. I was ashamed.

At some point I realized that there were four of them, not three—the fourth was flying way up above the others, but she remained largely peripheral as the three swooped down on us and landed, stone-faced, on their feet.

The two flanks of the formation were girls. They were completely identical: their green eyes, their red hair, their slender gray wings with black tips. They had the same dimensions as the bird kids of my flock, the only difference being that they were short, even though they were plainly around Nudge's age or older, at least fourteen. They _had_ to be. Suffice it to say that puberty didn't neglect them.

Anyway, they were tiny—they barely capped five feet, and they were _so_ slender that I estimated that they couldn't have weighed more than fifteen pounds apiece. Granted, every bird-girl looks more or less anorexic, but these two took it to a whole different level. And yet, I could tell that they were in shape, and I'm not talking about the puberty again. Their muscles were in tip-top shape for fighting.

The point of the patrol, meanwhile, was a dude. About the same size as Fang, and with a similar fashion sense. His shaggy hair was black and shoulder-length, and artfully streaked with alternating silver and purple stripes. His eyes were brown, and his wings were blue, with white streaks and black speckles.

He had sex appeal—nothing on Fang, of course, but I could definitely tell, he was the heartthrob type and… yeah, he knew it. He knew what effect he had.

And, I have to admit… Fang's wings, pure black and often compared to a crow, were all part of the brooding, sexy image that he had, but this guy's blue jay wings were pretty neat too. I wondered if wings could be dyed…

My train of thought ended as the fourth member of this flock dropped in.

She stood out. She stood out a _lot_. Not because she was well-dressed—which she was. Her outfit was all the current fashions, but she took it to the next step past fashion, which is of course _style_; she made the look her own. And not because she was beautiful—which she was. Her fair skin, strawberry hair, turquoise eyes, and superbly awesome bone structure made for a very attractive gal. She was more real than a supermodel, but also something a bit beyond normal-people beauty.

And not because her wings were those of a bat instead of a bird—which they were. That was something I had never seen before. Proportionate to her height, her wingspan was greater than that of any of my flock or hers, and were also wider in the up-and-down dimension. And, when she landed, rather than retract her wings and flatten them along her back, she draped them over her shoulders like a cape.

No, the reason that she stood out was her… _aura_, I suppose you could say. Looking at her, the way she moved and the way her flock moved with her, it was clear that she was the uncontested leader of her flock, just as I was with mine. I felt a bond with her, an understanding.

Of course, my flock was nowhere near as organized as hers. I'd have to whip my troops into shape if our two flocks were to have any kind of ongoing contact… what am I talking about? What do I care what the bat-girl thinks of me?

I answered that question myself: I care a _lot_ about what bat-girl thinks of me. Her commanding aura, the way I already respected her so much before we even exchanged a word… I needed _her_ to respect _me_. I absolutely needed that.

The bat-girl stepped forward, while her three followers stood at attention behind her. She looked around at our shocked faces. "Well," she finally said. "I guess ye've been taken by surprise. Ye have me apology. I might have given ye more warnin'."

She was Irish. Was this her turf? Was she the reason so many people were grouped here? I thought they had come together for _me_…

"Wow," Max II muttered. "Oh my God, wowie-wow…"

"What's going on?" Iggy demanded. "I heard wings… this can't mean what I think it means…"

"There's another flock, dude," Fang whispered. "Three girls and a guy."

"Yeah? How's the guy look?"

"I'm intimidated," Fang confessed.

"And the girls?" Iggy pestered.

"So hot," Fang said earnestly.

Fang braced himself for the dirty look. I didn't give it to him. When a guy's right, he's right.

The leader laughed. "Well, I see we've got the flock's approval," she said. "Well, I'd like to introduce ye to _my_ flock. Me second-in-command ye may call Sean; the twins are Jacqueline and Falon. And I am Imogen."

"Imogen," Max II repeated, as if testing out how the name tasted.

Imogen stepped forward and shook Max's hand. "It's an honor to finally meet ye, Maximum Ride," she said.

"Oh!" Max said, alarmed. "I'm… I'm not Maximum Ride, she is. I'm Max II."

Imogen's eyes didn't even flicker towards me. "Max, too?" she said, confused.

"Max, Roman numeral two," she clarified, looking down shyly.

"Ah," Imogen said. She turned to me and sized me up, as if she genuinely hadn't noticed me until that very instant. She then looked back at Max II. "Well, that's a pity," she said, a smile creeping onto her face.

My ego started to prickle.

"So, Imogen," I said. "You lead here."

"Aye," she said. "Much like yerself."

She was looking at me, but still hadn't stepped away from Max II. I decided to take the matters myself, and step up to her.

"Where are you from, Immy?" I asked. "How long have you been around? Who… made you?"

"All good questions," she said. "But questions for another day. Welcome to me party. I hope ye enjoy yerselves. Soon, we find the Survivors and we fight."

Imogen turned and spread her wings.

Like any woman would, for that's what I've become, I ran over that adieu in my head and picked out the one sentence that didn't favor me. "_Your_ party?" I said. I had been under the impression that it was my party, and I didn't like the way that seemed to be changing.

Imogen turned around and stared at me. "Yes," she said slowly.

We stared each other down for a few moments. Finally, she lifted off. Her three flock-mates followed. None of the three had said a single word. I watched them do a circuit around the perimeter of the camp.

"Impressions, perspectives?" I said to the flock.

"I had no clue there were other flocks," Nudge muttered. "I mean, I figured maybe we'd pick up a stray mutant here or there, but a whole 'nother flock? I for one am reeling."

"I second that," Gazzy said.

"But… I meant, did anybody pick up any of their character aspects, maybe some negative feelings…?" I continued.

Fang slouched. "The thing is, we kind of relied on Angel for that."

"I know," I muttered.

"Imogen is a bad-ass, though, that's for sure," Fang supplied.

"A bad-ass?" Max II repeated. "That's the understatement of the century. She's phenomenal and magnificent."

My clone was evidently star-struck. Come on! She's supposed to idolize _me_, damn it. I'm her freaking original.

"I don't know," I said. "Immy seems like a bit of a snot."

Fang raised an eyebrow. "Max, _you're_ a bit of a snot."

"I know," I said. "That's what I meant. I could totally hang with her."


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

The flock stood in front of a very military-ey fellow wearing the uniform of the CSM's "tough guy" division, not unlike the deceased Greene brothers, my mom's bodyguards who were killed in a raid on Jewel's lair.

Those two guys had gotten me to the hospital in time for me to safely give birth to Airy. I was pretty saddened when Fang told me that they'd been dead for three years.

But now, like I said, a military-ey guy, a little over my height, shaved head, dark skin, dressed in the same uniform as Balthasar and Mattie always wore was asking us to stand at attention.

I don't know if you ever got around to noticing this, but the flock don't stand at attention for nobody, no way, no how. The very little respect I had for uniforms vanished the instant that request was made.

"What exactly are you supposed to teach us?" I asked.

"My name is Amadeus Southbound. I'm going to teach you fighting skills."

His South-African-accented voice was very squeaky, which made him slightly less military-ey than he looked. I wondered how he got into the military with a voice like that. When he was yelling, he was probably downright funny.

"We know how to fight, Amadeus," I said. "What else is on your curriculum?"

"Covert ops—" he began.

"Oh, we're all over that," I said. "Look, we've done this before."

"Maybe you have, but I specialize in this sort of thing," Amadeus said. "The Survivors have an army of their own, you know, which includes highly trained ninjas—"

"Really?" Gazzy interrupted. "SWEET!"

"And probably mutants," Amadeus finished. "As the best Military Intelligence expert in the CSM, I've been assigned to help you out with that."

"Ooh, Military Intelligence," Nudge said.

"The ultimate oxymoron," Iggy said.

"Are you a mutant?" I asked.

"No," he muttered.

"Well, then, how can you teach us how to fight them? I could probably pick you up and throw you. You wouldn't be much of a sparring partner."

"All right, listen," Amadeus said. "I only want to help you. Can you be a little bit less… _you _for a little while?"

"Sounds like our reputations precede us," Fang muttered. "Sorry about this, dude. Carry on."

Amadeus went through a ton of crap we've heard before. I got restless before a minute was up, and finally snapped after five.

"Hey," I said. "You know what I just realized about these lessons? I can fly away from them. Come on, Fang, I'm jonesing for a make-out session on a blanket in a meadow."

I turned and spread my wings.

"Sorry, Amadeus," Fang said. "I actually thought your lesson was fairly informative, but if you think I'm gonna stay here after an offer like that, you may want to reconsider the name of your profession." He followed me into the air.

The others followed him. "You guys can't watch," I said.

"We know," Nudge said. "But we can help you find a place."

Suddenly, our path was blocked by the Irish flock. We braked and, since hovering isn't entirely in our arsenal, the two flocks sort of rotated around each other.

"What do ye think ye're doin', skippin' out on yer lesson?" Imogen demanded.

"We know all the stuff," I said. "And… I'd just rather nail Fang than go through it all again."

Imogen frowned. "Well, I see ye're as arrogant as all the rumors tell," she said. "Ye have me sympathy for that waste. This flock understands that there's always more to learn."

"Wait a minute, _you_ nail _me_?" Fang said.

"Not the time, Fang," I said. "All right, listen, Immy, I can totally see you and me reaching a relationship of mutual respect, but for now, I think you ought to just learn how we roll. How's about we set down and have a bit of face-time, eh?"

Imogen nodded. "I'd be likin' that very much, Maximum Ride."

She soared around, aiming for a flat rock on the edge of the field. Her three followers went after her in perfect sync.

"Jeez, they're like her puppies," Nudge muttered as my flock flew after them.

We sat down on the rock, the four of them on one side and the six of us on another.

"Let's just get our differences sorted out," I said. "How old are you, Immy?"

"I'm sixteen," she said. "Sean is a year to the day younger than I; the twins a year younger than him."

"Okay," I said. "Tell me about your childhood."

"Well, I was built in a lab… same as ye lot, right?" she began tentatively.

"Uh-huh," I said. "Continue."

"I got a very good home education," Imogen said. "They taught me to fight, to solve problems. They taught me to be leader. They told me that when the time came, I'd prove that I was better than the normal humans."

"And who's 'they'?" I asked.

She shrugged. "The scientists. Just a bunch of blokes in white jackets. Never learned their names, and haven't seen 'em in many years, but I think of the lot of 'em as me mentors, maybe even parents." She gave me a leveled stare. "I know ye haven't been as fortunate as meself, Max, but I'd assumed that at the very least ye'd know how to use yer mind."

"Oh, I know how to use my mind," I said. "Let me paint you a little picture. My 'blokes in white jackets'? My 'they'? They kept me in a crate. They performed experiments on me that, all these years later, beyond the realm of ordinary memory, seem like they were done yesterday. You are never going to be able to envision the torture. It was a freshly-built hell smack-dab in the middle of good old Cali. I'll never forget that place. I want to so badly, and yet deep in my heart I know that forgetting that place will mean losing a piece of myself."

I realized I was bearing my soul to a complete stranger, but I didn't care. I needed them to know.

"Then—reprieve," I said. "A guy bailed us out. And for a time, we kind of had what you've described. A mentor, a parent, a teacher. Then he vanished on us. After that, for a while, things were okay… but it didn't last."

"Ye're talking of Jeb Batchelder?" Imogen interrupted.

"That's the guy."

"Didn't he come back to ye, though?"

"Not really, Immy. Not really. I never knew who he was, really. And every time I have a conversation with him, I feel like I know him less." I took a breath, and tried to find the thread of my story again. "And then… the running. I tell ya, Immy, you can't _imagine_ the running. It was like every fifteen minutes—sometimes, literally every fifteen minutes—some new batch of killers came out at us. Making us fight until we just don't want to fight anymore. We've met people so evil, you can't help but wonder why God doesn't just strike them down. And I don't just mean people in evil organizations… people in everyday jobs, who were somehow… _evil_.

"Then, of course, we were trophies. Glamour and glitz was nice for a while, but it always turned into an assassination attempt. Sometimes because we were allegedly out-of-date, obsolete. Sometimes because we were aberrations, freaks. Sometimes just because we got people to vote Democrat. You know what the moment was, that really convinced me that the world is evil, not good? That would be when I was chained to the wall whilst in labor. Yeah! I'm a fourteen-year-old girl having a baby, and they hang me up by the wrists."

"Dear God," Imogen whispered.

"Yeah! Of course, I had my baby, and things were okay for, oh, I don't know, four days. Then, I just got so terrified of all the evils on this damned planet… that I hid from the world. I avoided the evil, at the cost of also being without the people I loved. Three years of that. I can assure you, Immy, that all of us came out of those three years a lot different that we went in, and I don't know if it was in a good way.

"So, yeah, you might have been raised to think you're a pretty special kid. Well, I wasn't raised at all. And I've decided that I want to savor every good moment I have as a mutant freak—and the moments that I actually WANT to savor are VERY few! So forgive me if I don't want to sit through a bunch of shit I've heard before just to see if maybe there's more to learn from it."

Imogen sat in silence for a few moments.

"You got anything to say? 'Cause, like I said, I'd like to get outta here."

"I am sorry," Imogen said. "I truly am. I've… I've lived me life off of books, and discipline, and it never occurred to me that someone who looks so much like me could have a life so very different from me own. Ye're not a soldier like me, Maximum, but ye've got wisdom beyond anything I'll ever be able to strive for in me whole existence."

Imogen flew off, and the miniature twins followed her. I started to turn around, but Sean pulled me back by my shirt collar.

"Ye've done a major wrong here," he said.

I was too taken aback by hearing him speak for the first time that I didn't resist or answer. I simply turned back to him.

"Maybe Imogen's not suffered the way ye have, but she's just as much of a flock leader as ye are," Sean said. "And ye know this! Ye sensed it the moment ye two met. But now? Now ye've shook her confidence. Ye've got her thinkin' she's an inadequate leader. And I can assure ye that's not the case."

"Gee, I wasn't trying to take away anybody's dignity," I said. "I mean, yeah, I felt the connection with her. She just needed to know who she was dealing with."

Sean snorted. "Ye've not yet made enemies of us, Maximum Ride, but I suggest ye fix what ye've done quick. We'll be seein' a lot of each other."

"Fine," I said. "Bring her back now."

"Hey, Imogen!" Sean yelled to the sky.

Imogen started floating down on her broad, leathery wings.

"I just don't know what to say," I muttered. "I mean, I'm _not_ going back to that lesson."

"You know, Max," Max II piped up. "I… I can't fight worth crap."

I mulled that over as Imogen touched the ground. "What do ye want?" she muttered.

"Listen, Immy, it seems I've hurt your feelings," I said, "and that's not who I am, really. You're a leader like I am. You've made big mistakes, right?"

"Aye," she whispered.

"Well… listen, the thing I wanted to talk about was, you see my cl—I mean, my sister here. She's not like me or you. She hasn't had a real… lifetime. And she can't fight as well as the rest of us."

"Is that right?" Imogen said, looking over Max interestedly.

"Oh, yeah," Gazzy offered. "She can't even flip a coin."

Max II shot Gazzy a sideways glare. "Thank you _so_ much," she said through gritted teeth.

Imogen stepped up to Max II. "So," she said. "Ye need… assistance?"

"Assistance of the kind I can't provide," I said. "I'm a fighter, but I'm no teacher. I think you could teach her much better than I could."

"Aye," Imogen muttered, looking at Max II. "Aye, I'll gladly teach ye," she said. "All that I know."

"You do that," I said. "And don't give me anything less than perfection."

Imogen's eyes sparkled. "Ye have me word. Come with me, Max II."

"Um… now?" Max II stammered.

"If yerself or yer leader have no objections."

"Um… no. Right now is great," Max mumbled.

"Then go right ahead," I coaxed gently.

The two of them flew off. Falon and Jacqueline went off in a different direction. Sean nodded to me, pleased, and also lifted off.

"That Sean is super-super hot," I heard Nudge say. Then, an instant later, as if Nudge was continuing in the same breath, "That was Gazzy."

"I deny that," Gazzy said.

"All right, everybody, let's go," I said.

The five of us took to the air. "About you being the one to nail me—" Fang began.

"Fine, fine, we can switch it around if it maintains your machismo. Jeez."

"Seriously, though," Nudge said. "Were you listening to Sean? He definitely looks up to Imogen. And not like he's been brainwashed or indoctrinated. He genuinely loves her… but in a family way."

"Yeah, I picked up on that," Gazzy said. "And… Imogen doesn't like being judged. It's never happened to her before. And the twins are… just plain creepy, actually. Did you see them emote, even once?"

"No, I didn't," Iggy said.

I rolled my eyes. "I thought you outgrew the blind jokes, Ig."

"Well, you don't know everything," Iggy countered.

"Anyway, we've got no clue that they can be trusted," Fang said. "We're leaving one of our flock in their care. Is that wise?"

"Well, we keep all our options open," I said. "But, you know… let's do something different than our usual plan of action. Today, let's assume that we _can_ trust them."


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

The flock settled down under the open stars.

There were no structures at all in the CSM's base, not even temporary ones. I guess they were making a statement about not ravaging the planet. I dunno. But, if you can put away your fear of being discovered and wiped out, it was bird-kid paradise. I love them right there stars.

With the dark coming down around us, Iggy showed some renewed interest in a friendly sparring match, and both Gazzy and Nudge obliged. The three of them faced off in three corners, all of them trying to bring down the other two.

Fang and I just relaxed on a blanket, listening to chirping crickets.

"Mm," I muttered. "What a gorgeous summer night… glad I can share it with you, babe. Have you gotten tired of me yet?"

He snorted. "Of course not."

We watched Airy twirling around through the night. Her motor skills were unbelievable—watching the way she maneuvered in the air was true magic in the sky.

"That's our daughter, Max," Fang said unexpectedly.

"Yeah," I said. "Pretty hard to believe…"

"What do you think she's gonna do?" Fang wondered. "You know, she's never going to be just some lawyer or professor. She's… destined to be important."

"I want her to stay my baby," I muttered. "I don't want to think about what she's gonna do when she grows up."

Airy fluttered to the ground. "I wanna be just like you, Mommy," she said. "I wanna be a great leader, and I wanna fight!"

"Airy!" I said, surprised. "I hope you _never_ have to fight."

"I wanna!" she insisted. "I wanna punch and kick."

She spun into the air and kicked some unsuspecting passerby in the shoulder.

"Ow!" the huge guy shrieked. It was Amadeus Southbound, our erstwhile fighting instructor. He fell to his knees, clutching his shoulder as Airy giggled.

"Whoa," I said. "And the mighty general gets taken out by a three-year-old. Thank God we didn't stay for his lesson, huh?"

"Jeez," Amadeus rasped. "I think she broke a bone."

"Well, don't just sit there gasping," I said. "Find somebody to take a look at that."

He got up and walked off, glaring at us over his shoulder.

Airy plopped onto her back between me and Fang. "Hi, Daddy," she said.

"Hey, sweetie," he said, his voice as sweet as honey.

"Hey, Daddy," she said. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"Guess what?"

"What?"

"Guess what?"

"What?" Fang demanded.

Airy giggled. "I wanna see Keegan!"

In a single instant, I felt Keegan's presence over my shoulder. Turning around, she was there on a blanket next to mine, snuggling with Niles.

"Keegan!" Airy yelled, tackling her.

Keegan laughed. "Oh… such a precious baby bird…"

Airy flew off into the night. I wasn't worried about her. She was smart enough to stay within our borders, and so many people had their eyes on her that nothing could possibly befall her.

"Hey, Keegs, Niles," Fang said.

"Hi," Keegan replied. She took a deep breath, her wispy figure rising and falling. Niles kissed her cheek tenderly. "You know, I never expected this," she said. "All of us being so happy."

"Those moments are becoming more frequent," I said. "Maybe someday, when the threat is ended, we'll all be happy all the time."

"Yes," Keegan said. "That's the way it'll be." She closed her eyes as Niles kissed her shoulder and neck.

"We've turned out pretty good, haven't we?" I said. "For a couple of eighteen-year-old mutant girls."

"Mm-hmm…"

"We've got souls," I said. "We've got sets of values. We've got the best boyfriends on the planet."

"Boyfriend?" Fang muttered, nuzzling me. "I thought we were married."

"Shut up, this is girl talk," I muttered. "You know what I'm saying, Keegan? The way our world is, we might not have been good people. But we are. You know? We are good people."

"Uh-huh," Keegan said. "You know, Max, I think that future generations will forever cherish the way you view the world… your kindness will be legendary, I'm sure of it."

The Keegmeister and I didn't really need to say that much to each other nowadays. We just kind of laid there, our eyes closed, while our respective guys rubbed our backs and caressed our faces. Maybe one or both of us fell asleep a little bit… I don't know. But my bond with Keegan, one that transcended normal human friendship, was in a very comfortable place. I enjoyed it.

Anyway, I don't really know how much time passed before my idea occurred to me. I opened my eyes. "Hey, Keegan?" I said.

"Uh-huh?"

"Can you… check up on Angel for me? Just tell me how she is, and what she's doing."

Keegan nodded. Her eyes glazed a tiny bit. "Well… Angel is being—" Keegan suddenly began stammering and blinking rapidly. "Angel is… safe and happy," she said. She didn't sound very sure of herself. She'd noticed her own stumble.

Niles looked at her, concerned. "Are you okay, Keegan?" he asked.

"Yeah, what was that?" I asked. "Are you getting a little glitchy, pal?"

"No…" Keegan muttered. "No, I don't get… glitchy." She laughed. "Angel _is_ safe and happy… I'd never have any problems seeing that. You don't have to worry about me! I can still do anything. Come on, ask me to do anything. I'll give you a freebie."

"Oh, really?" I said. A Keegan freebie? Well, this could be interesting. What should I ask for? World peace? A new, healthy planet?

Well, of course I didn't ask for any of those things. Why? Because I'm a doofus. As it turned out, I asked for Michigan J. Frog. That seemed like the obvious choice.

And there he was, standing between me and Keegan, doing his song-and-dance routine with top hat and cane.

"_Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime gal_…"

He looked like a cartoon, but he was so tangible… I reached out to touch him. He felt like a real frog.

"_Send me a kiss by wire, baby my heart's on fire_…"

"Pretty good, huh?" Keegan said.

"Best damn display of your powers I've ever seen," I said.

"_If you refuse me, honey you'll lose me, then you'll be left alone, oh baby_—"

Michigan fell silent as Max II and Imogen settled to the ground. Keegan and I cracked up.

"That old cartoon frog, huh?" Max II said dryly.

Keegan nodded, her face perfectly joyful.

"Well, don't keep him from finishing on my account," she said.

Keegan looked back at the cartoon frog, who stood up and finished: "_Oh, baby, telephone and tell me I'm your own!_"

He vanished with a pop, as Keegan and I were still overtaken by our girlish giggles. Imogen shook her head in disbelief. "Not me first choice for evenin' entertainment," she muttered. She took a running start and flew back to her own flock.

"Really, though," Fang said. "You get a freebie from your omnipotent buddy and the first thing to pop into your head is Michigan J. Frog?"

"He's cute," I said defensively. Keegan giggled. "And I'm trying to be responsible. Keegan can't change too much."

"Keegs, can we… go back to our cabin?" Niles muttered.

"Oh, gee, I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't want to pull you two out of your lives… it's just that Airy wanted to see you."

Keegan nodded. "I know. Goodnight, Max."

Keegan and Niles vanished along with their blanket. They were just a double-dose of cute, every time I saw them.

"So, Max, how'd it go with Immy?" I asked.

Fang and I sat up, letting her know that we had her full attention.

"It was… really fun," Max admitted. "Imogen's not at all like you, Max."

I frowned. "How's that?"

"I mean, that's not to say you're better or worse than her," she hastily amended. "Not at all. Just different. She's… you know, disciplined. Controlled."

I nodded. "Yeah, that ain't me."

"Not at all," she agreed. "But, you know, I can see the fault in that. The way she keeps so calm, always? I think it's unhealthy for her. When you're pissed off, you let everybody know."

"Totes," I agreed.

"But, yeah, there's definitely something about… you know, being with Imogen, being her student," she mused. "It was very… I don't know. Zen, maybe. I liked it."

"Oh, yeah," I said. "Absolutely. The Irish mutant teen Zen master. Who wouldn't want to hang out with a person like that?"

Max II narrowed her eyes. "Hey, back off," she said. "Imogen taught me a lot today. Not just about fighting, but about spirituality and morals."

"Right. I can picture it. 'To master how to use a sword, ye must firrrrrrst learn when and wherrrrrrrrre to use a sword…'," I said in my best phony-Irish accent, rolling the R's horribly.

Fang laughed straight from the belly, a rare occurrence. "Find yer calm centerrrrrrrrrr," he said. We laughed together.

Max II stomped her foot. "Knock it off!" she screeched.

Fang and I fell silent. "Whoa," I said. "Relax. What's gotten into you?"

"I just feel like you're being mean to someone I look up to," Max II grumbled, sitting down on her own blanket.

"Someone you… look up to?" I said. "What, do you want to be part of _her_ flock now?"

Max looked up at me, horrified. "No, no, of course not!" she said. "I belong with this flock. I'm just saying…"

"'Cause you can! I mean, I'd obviously be happier if you stayed with me, but the important thing is that _you_ are happy."

"No, no… I'm part of your flock, Max. Don't ever think I'd consider leaving. But I _do_ look up to Imogen as well."

"We like Imogen too," I said. "We're just having a bit of fun."

"Just show her some respect, is all I'm asking," Max II muttered.

"Max, we make fun of people all the time," I said. "You know that."

"Well… not Imogen, okay? Not after what… happened today."

I came closer to her and touched her shoulder. "_What_ happened today?" I asked.

She looked up at me pitifully. "I fell in love, that's what happened today," she said. "With Imogen. I'm completely smitten with her."


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

I was _not_ safe and happy.

I was being kept prisoner in a metal room. I couldn't possibly be strong enough to escape.

It felt like it had been days, but my more logical self told me that it couldn't have been that long.

A logical self that was slowly vanishing.

The door opened and something rolled in. I tensed. Was that Jewel…? No. Just some cheap hunk of machinery that vaguely resembled him.

Soon, my hands were tied, and my mouth was taped over. The machine didn't make any noise, but its laser cannon spoke for it. It gestured for me to exit the cell. So I did.

Two human guards were waiting outside for me. No… no, they weren't human. Something in their thoughts, as well as the rippling ease of their muscles, told me that these dudes were a bit more than human.

They marched me down the hall. They were deliberately going over the memories of their training sessions, showing me how powerful and strong they were.

Yeah, I couldn't fight them. Certainly not when I was gagged and bound. And I couldn't mess with their minds if I couldn't speak.

But I had other weapons. Arbitrarily, I chose one of the two guys and started sifting through his brain. Not only could I feel his thoughts and sensations, but his physical brain… and if I could find just the right blood vessel…

This was a new skill, one that I had _not_ been looking forward to using… the implications of my own powers did, in fact, frighten me sometimes. But this was "one of those" situations.

I found the right blood vessel in the guard's brain. I pinched it off.

Promptly, his head exploded.

Me and the other guard were splattered in gore—and he was taken completely by surprise, stumbling back. In a split second, I jumped in the air and tucked in my legs, bringing my bound hands to the front of my body. I ripped the tape off my mouth.

"That was really yucky," I said. "And I'd rather not do it again, so untie me!"

He cut my bonds, terrified. Poor sucker. I considered offering him a deal, but abruptly he fell to the ground. His throat had been cut.

I turned to the side. Kellie was there, her red eyes burning and her hand extended. She had slit the man's throat with her fingernails.

"I'll take you from here, Angel," she hissed.

She took my hand and started dragging me forward at walking speed. Walking speed for _her_, that is, which as it turns out it about 40 miles per hour.

I listened in on her thoughts. They were too fast for me to comprehend… all I got was _bvvvvvvvv-vdvdvdvd-vrrrrrrrrv_. When she'd been impersonating Gazzy, that had been my only tip-off, along with a single vision of the future. I couldn't have imagined how deadly the creature truly was…

Kellie took me to an office. "I have her, Mommy," she sang.

I growled at the person behind the counter. "The Director," I whispered.

"No longer," Marian Janssen said. "But in this organization I _do_ have a fair amount of seniority."

Kellie spun around and laid her head on Janssen's lap, but kept her eyes focused solidly on me.

"Wait a minute," I said. "'Mommy'?"

Kellie laughed shrilly. "I love my Mommy," she said, making her voice babyish. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard. And not fingernails, actual nails.

"Anyway, Angel," Janssen said. "I haven't seen you since you were six years old. You're an… impressive young lady."

"Just get this over with," I said.

"No, no, I need you to listen. There is so much for you to learn. Will you come with me?"

I glared. "Four years ago, you were going to terminate the flock. And most recently, you sent your sweet little girl here to kill my dog."

"You didn't do much to stop it, if I recall," Kellie sang.

I burned into her with my eyes. "Forgive me if I have a hard time believing your promises, Janssen," I said. "So, just kill me if that's what you're going to do. It would bring relief to a lot of people, I've no doubt about that…" I drifted off. The show of vulnerability was only partially a ploy.

"We don't want your death, Angel. We want your participation."

I paused.

"You can be one of the most important people in this new world, Angel," Marian offered. "And, we can help you find your parents. Hasn't that been a lifelong obsession of yours?"

"My parents?" I said. "The people who sold me for ten grand? I'd rather not meet them."

"Well, then not to reconnect," Janssen said. "For revenge, perhaps?"

"I don't do revenge," I said.

"Hmm… well, revenge is what we're doing. Revenge on the people of Earth for spoiling the only planet we have!"

"And what do you call what YOU have tried to do?" I demanded.

"I've never been the villain, Angel. Despite your multitude of powers, you seem to have a limited perspective on things. This team we've created… we can teach you, and others like you, precisely how to use your abilities, to see the big picture."

"I _know_ the big picture," I retorted. "I'm good, you're evil. That's all there is to it."

"Then you're a fool. But join this group, and you will be the leader you always wanted to be."

"I wanted to be a leader in the cause for _good_!" I roared.

"And you shall be. Join us… the Survivors call this family you're joining the Eyes, or the Dreaming Order… some have tagged them with the name 'Veni-Yan'." She chuckled. "I suppose you know what that's in reference to?"

"Of course I do," I said. "I can read your mind, remember? Veni-Yan. From the comic book _Bone_. Looks interesting. Maybe I'll buy it. But, listen, maybe you know what _this_ is in reference to: Vulcan nerve pinch!"

I pinched the base of her neck and she went limp. Kellie got to her feet and faced off with me.

For the record, the Vulcan nerve pinch only works if you're a Vulcan. I actually knocked her out with my mind; the pinch was just for dramatic effect. Just making sure you know that. Don't go around pinching people and thinking they'll get knocked out.

Anyway, Kellie faced off with me. I knew that fighting her would be insanely complicated, but I'd realized that it wasn't impossible. Her mind wasn't a complete blank; I just needed to adjust the way I was listening. I was so used to translating thoughts into words, which generally worked, but with Kellie that would prove my doom. I had to read her thoughts as pictures… and then trust in myself. Which I always do.

Kellie came in to tackle me, and I managed to dodge. I knew her thoughts now, just well enough to anticipate when and where I'd have to go to avoid her.

That was all I wanted to do: avoid her. I wasn't going to kill her.

So I ran. Every time Kellie came after me, I shifted my position to exactly what she wasn't ready for. After a while, you'd think she'd have wised up and started being ready for anything… but she couldn't. Reading more clearly now, I saw that Kellie had the mind of a child… less than a child.

The Unholy Assassin knew nothing but what she was permitted to. I pitied her.

Finally, I found myself outdoors. The base was an enormous tower made of black stone, many stories high and as broad as a football field… I scanned the surrounding area. It was a snowy tundra… what a place to launch an army!

But then, before my very eyes, everything changed. I was now in a dark pine forest. I had shifted to a completely different part of the world instantly! Everything was different.

Except for the tower. It was still there.

I flew. I flew as fast as I could, away from there, far enough that I wouldn't be pulled along the next time the tower moved…

But I hit an invisible barrier. I felt electricity course through my entire body. I saw my skin turn red as it burned from within.

Then I saw only blackness, and felt only that I was falling to the ground. I landed hard on my back, and finally managed to open my eyes. Kellie stood over me. Her burning red eyes were completely furious.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

We had the whole flock around a blanket, having a little picnic dinner under the stars.

"I'm so buzzed," Max II was jabbering. "You know, it just hit me out of the blue, like, KA-BOOM! And there it is. I'm as gay as the day is long, and I am in love with a swell Irish gal named Im… o… gen!" She slapped her knees with each syllable.

"You're glowing," Gazzy said. "Really, you are."

"Oh my God…" Max II suddenly slumped over. "What if… what if she doesn't swing that way? What if she rejects me? I couldn't take that kind of heartbreak, Max…"

I wasn't sure why she directed that at me, but I would have answered even if she hadn't. "Heartbreak?" I said. "You've spent one day with her, dude."

"I know! But it doesn't feel like that's been all… oh my God, I've got to know. I'm… I'm… I'm gonna ask her to run away with me! That's what I need to do! I'll do it right now!"

She stood up. Fang made a swiping motion with his arm and knocked her off her feet.

"Slow down a little bit," he said. "Maybe she does like you, but if you just up and confess your love for her right here and now, you're gonna scare the hell out of her. There was once a girl named Lissa who made that mistake."

My head snapped up to Fang. Max II was still flat on her back, and stared at him blankly. "Should I know what that means?"

"Well, no, I guess not," Fang said. "Um… this was way back before we ever met, but the flock went to prep school once."

"Yeah, I know," Max said. "I was spying on you."

"That's right," Fang said. "Anyway, there was girl in my class. Lissa. Redhead, smokin' hot. I coulda gone for her, I'll say it."

"Coulda?" I repeated.

"Yeah, coulda. But she ruined that. From the moment she met me, I couldn't get rid of her. Scared the hell outta me."

"Yeah, you were terrified, I'm sure," I muttered.

"I'm making a point here, Max! What I'm saying is, Max II shouldn't be too forward with Imogen. Maybe you should just try to spend more time with her. But don't ask her to elope after one day of hanging out."

"Why not?" I muttered. "You and good ol' Lissa started snogging the very day you met…"

"It was the day after the very day, actually," Fang countered. "And where did it get her, really?" He held up his ring finger and tapped the ring. "This isn't worthless bling-bling, Max. I love _you_. Always have."

Max II blinked. "But… I don't understand. Why would you be frightened of someone who liked you?"

"It's human nature, even if there's an extra two-percent of something else in there," Fang said.

"Max always runs away from her feelings," Nudge said wisely. "That's what gave Fang initiative to pursue her."

"Oh, shut up," I said.

"What I'm saying is, don't drop yourself into Imogen's lap," Fang said. "We're just assuming here that she'll have you—but you have to give her reason to want for it. You understand?"

Max II sat up and looked around. "You know, you guys are being really cool about this," she said.

"Oh, we're super-super liberal," Gazzy said.

"Say, Nudge," Iggy said, resting his head on her lap. "What do you say we get married here in Ireland?"

"Ooh, that would be cool," Nudge said. "Oh, I can totally picture that! It would be beautiful!"

"Yeah," Iggy said. "It'd be like… a wedding by the lochs."

"Lochs?" Nudge said. "That's Scotland."

"Oh. What word was I thinking of? Moors?"

"I think that's Scotland too, sweetie."

Iggy blinked. "Huh. What do they have in Ireland?"

"Leprechauns," I interjected.

Iggy shrugged. "Anyway, I'm just really loving the weather and the… I guess, just the peaceful atmosphere here. And I said to myself, 'Self, I want to have a wedding on a night _exactly_ like tonight'."

"That's really beautiful, Ig," I said.

"Yeah," Nudge agreed. She bent down to kiss him. "You have amazing ideas, always."

She stood abruptly, and Iggy hit his head on the ground. "Ow," he said cheerfully.

"That's _definitely_ Aaron," Nudge said, staring into the distance. "No way I'm seeing things! That's my ex-boyfriend Aaron!"

"Aaron?" Iggy said abruptly. "So what if it is him? You care?"

"Well, I thought he was dead," Nudge said. "And we were still friends…"

"Nudge… Nudge, baby," Iggy said, taking her by the ankle. "If that is Aaron, and he wanted to see you, he would have sought you out by now, don't you think? He's probably avoiding you."

"He wouldn't," Nudge said. "That's Aaron! I'm gonna go get him!"

Nudge ran off into the night. Iggy sighed.

"Probably avoiding her, huh?" Fang said, sidling up to Iggy. "That was flimsy, Iggy."

Iggy sat up. "I don't want Aaron to be here!" he said. "Either he's here, or Nudge is seeing him everywhere which means he's on her mind. That doesn't spell good news for me! I mean, we were _just now_ talking about our wedding and she takes off to find her ex?"

"Iggy," Fang said gently. "Do you really think that Aaron can steal Nudge from you? Don't you have more respect for Nudge than that?"

Iggy stood still and silent.

"And remember, there's nothing Aaron can do that'll change the way Nudge feels about you," Fang said. "Not even coming back from the dead. Okay? Don't be a jealous thug, Iggy. It's unbecoming. Although I've gotta admit, it looks better on you than on Max."

I threw a turkey leg at Fang. Iggy caught it unerringly and proudly took a bite as we all stared at him in awe.

Nudge returned.

"How's Aaron?" Gazzy asked.

"I don't know," Nudge said. "I lost track of him in the crowd… if it really was him…"

"Did you try—?" Fang began. Iggy slapped him.

"Iggy, I saw that," Nudge said, smiling. She sat behind him and started rubbing his shoulders. "You think somebody's gonna take me away, you big galumphing idiot? I love you so much."

Fang started drumming his fingers. I could tell he was ready to sleep. "Hey," I said. "You know what we haven't done in forever? The goodnight ritual."

I held out my fist. The others eagerly placed theirs atop mine.

"Max, get in on this," I said to my clone.

"What's the goodnight ritual?" she said cautiously.

"Just follow our lead," I assured her. She placed her fist at the top of the stack, and we all tappity-tapped our own hands.

"What… what does it mean?" Max II wondered.

"Nothing," I said. "It's got no meaning at all. It's just a tradition… we used to do it every single night, ever since I was twelve. We tried to use it to… ground ourselves, after all the chaos that started going on in our lives, but after a while use of it just kind of… faded."

Max II smiled. "I like it. Makes me feel like one of you, somehow."

"Well, that's exactly what you are," Nudge said. "Hey, you know what else the flock hasn't done in a while? The fake-name bit."

Fang winced. "I hate the fake-name bit."

"That's because the fake-name bit's funny," I said, "and your idea of humor is pulling the wings off of flies."

"Yeah," Gazzy said. "Let's do it right now. I'm Pope Dracula Quetzalcoatl Coyote Ringo—"

"Don't—don't do the fake-name bit," Fang said. "Let's revive one flock tradition at a time, all right?"

"Right on," Iggy said. "And I'll be Pierre Brando Adewale Shyamalan Baldwin the—"

"Seriously, guys…" Fang said.

"Killjoy," Iggy coughed.

"How does he not like the fake-name bit?" Nudge muttered. "It works every time, doesn't it?"

"Fine, fine, fine," Fang said. "Do the fake-name bit till the cows come home. Just don't expect me to be good at it."

"So that's what bothers you!" I said. "You're no good at it."

"Goodnight, everybody," Fang said, grabbing a blanket.

I joined him. "Emo," I coughed.

"I'm not emo," he said good-naturedly, laying down in a secluded place. "So, Max, what do you think? Good army?"

I shrugged. "I… I don't know. We don't know what the Survivors have. Well, yes we do. They have Jewel. You've seen how many people he can cut down…"

"Not if every one of them is fully trained and equipped to kill him," Fang countered. "No, my love, I think we've got it made."

When he called me "my love" as opposed to "babe", I knew that meant he was dead serious. And _that_ is the kind of Fang I can get on board with.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

I stood on a mountaintop. Below me lay a seemingly endless canyon… it was gorgeous. I could imagine that the thermals were totally bitchin'… I spread my wings to give it a go.

_Max._

I froze.

_Maximum Ride._

"Voice," I said. "You've come back to me… you're finally back… but why does my head still hurt?"

_Turn and look at me, Maximum._

I frowned. "How?"

_Just turn._

I turned around. And there it was… a shrouded figure, in a black cloak that shrouded every inch of his or her body… except for a single hand, which held a scythe in its long, bearlike claws.

"Who are you?" I said.

_It's me, Maximum. The one you've been searching for. The one who loves you, nurtures you, guides you…_

"Why did you go?" I demanded.

_Why, I didn't, Max. I never could. I love you…_

"If you're not gone, why does my head still hurt?" I whimpered.

_A temporary complication. But if you touch me, I will return. I will live inside your head forever. I will be there for you on the ride…_

"I'm so down with that," I said. "I need you, Voice. Right down to the core of my soul, I flippin' need you."

_I know that you do._

I started forward tentatively.

Tentatively? Why the hell was I moving tentatively? I was trying with all my might to run, to run, to run towards my salvation… to recover from this torment… but it was like running through mud.

I lowered my hand. "This is a dream," I said. "I'm… I'm not gonna get the Voice back."

_Yes, you will. Step forward, and it will be back forever, in the waking world itself._

"That can't be," I said.

_What have you to lose? If this is a dream, you awake, disappointed, life goes on. If not…_

"If it's not a dream then the Voice is there for me again," I said. "Okay. I'll do it. I'll take the step…"

_DON'T, MAX! DON'T, MAX! DON'T!_

The second voice shrieked in my head frantically. "Angel?" I muttered. "What's going down, Angel?"

_LOOK AT ME, MAX, PLEASE! _Angel begged.

I turned to her. She was standing several feet away from the cloaked figure. "What is this, Angel?" I said. "I… oh my God. This is _not_ a dream, is it?"

"Well, it's not reality, but it sure as hell isn't a dream either," Angel said. She pointed accusatorily at the person who was making the Voice. "This person is the leader of the Survivors. I know you always wondered if the Voice was friend or foe… and I… and I… and I can't answer that for you, not really. But I can tell you one thing! _This person_ is your enemy!"

I took another step.

"Don't touch him, Max!" Angel pleaded. "If you touch him…"

"If I touch him I get the Voice back," I said methodically.

"Why?" Angel demanded. "Why would you want the Voice back?"

"I need it," I said. "I just do."

"That's not an answer," Angel said. "Please, please, think! Think hard!"

"I just need it," I said.

"Don't you get it? The Voice was nothing but a drug, Max! You're experiencing withdrawal symptoms, and this evil person, the person who guides the hand of everyone we hate, is taking advantage of that! Don't give in to the temptation! You're strong, Max. You're the strongest person on Earth. Just pull away." Angel began sobbing. "Max, I'm begging you. Please be strong. If you weaken, then everybody knows that the world is doomed."

"Why should I listen to you?" I asked. "You killed Total."

"I didn't!" Angel shrieked, tears flowing. "I love Total, you know I do!"

I sighed. "Angel… you've done nothing but get us in trouble your entire life."

"I know! I know that! And… and that won't happen anymore! If it's what you want, I'll die! I'll make myself die and you won't have to deal with me anymore… just trust me one last time, Max, then I'm gone! Just trust me one—last—time! Don't touch him! Don't touch him! DON'T TOUCH HIM!"

Angel vanished in a puff of golden smoke, as golden as her hair.

"Where is she?" I said.

The cloaky-dude chuckled. _Gone from here. Now then… on to the matter of touching me…_

I looked, and I realized that our extended hands were nearly touching. I withdrew mine.

"Where is Angel?" I demanded.

He extended his fingers as far as they would go. I tried pulling away, but couldn't. If I lost my balance even slightly, my chest would touch his fingers.

_Angel lost the energy to maintain her connection,_ the person finally said. _As you see, I have no such problems._

"Why would you want to overpower Angel?" I asked. "That's a terrible thing to do."

_Touch me, and I shall return to my rightful place, as your most trusted companion, the Voice._

"I will not," I said. "I don't want or need the Voice back. I have more companions than your sorry cloaked ass ever will."

Angel flickered in and out of my line of vision.

"Angel, I don't want you to die," I said. "Please don't think that. Please live. Will you do that for me, please?"

Angel didn't answer.

"Please live," I said. "Please stay alive and don't die."

The cloaked figure held his hands in fists at his sides. He stomped like a little kid having a tantrum. _Touch me,_ he snarled.

"The Voice didn't snarl, you jackass," I said.

I turned and pitched myself over the edge into the canyon. I didn't open my wings.

A few dream-like things floated by me as I fell. A coconut, a salad bowl, a pinecone.

Then I was on a blanket, in Fang's arms.

He chuckled. "Love watching you wake up, babe," he said.

I looked up at the blue sky. "Fang," I said. "Oh, Fang… two people were just battling to control my psyche…"

"Really?" he said. "Who won?"

"Well, I did of course. You think somebody else was going to?"

"Nah," he said. "Who were they?"

"One was Angel," I said. "And she said that the other person was the leader of the Survivors."

"The leader of the Survivors?" Fang said. "Oh… I met him once."

"You did?"

"Yeah. Never shows up in person, just sends a projection of a dude in a black cloak… with a voice that you could never possibly describe."

My eyes widened. I kissed Fang with fiery passion.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"Just happy to be alive," I said. "The person you described was exactly who was in my dream. And his voice was… _the_ Voice."

Fang gaped. "Oh…"

"If he had won…" I said. "But he didn't." I pressed my face into Fang's chest, then looked up at him. "I don't suppose you think I'm a crazy girl, do you?"

"Nah," he said. "Stranger things have happened." He kissed me. "You defeated him and Angel?"

"No, I didn't defeat Angel," I said. "We defeated the bad guy together…"

I sat upright, feeling my head. The emptiness was gone. But I knew, so was the Voice. Gone were the visions, the troubled dreams. I was just me now.

And "me" was gonna have a real great day.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Nine days passed. My heart was at ease, my sleep untroubled.

On that ninth night, Angel joined me in my dream once again. But it was only her. No enemies, no fabricated landscape. Just blackness and me and her.

"Hey, Max," she whispered.

"Hi, Angel," I said. I knew, as before, that this was something besides a dream. "What's going down this time?"

"I've just… been trying to find you again," she said. "Your mind, I mean. I'm glad that I finally have… I can't stay long."

"That's cool, Angel," I said.

"I… I decided… not to take my own life."

"I can see that. Thank you."

"You really don't want me gone?"

"I wouldn't be able to stand it if you were gone."

She didn't answer. She looked remorseful.

"Where are you, Angel? Come back to the flock."

"I can't," she said.

"Angel, I know they'll all forgive you."

"I can't return, Max."

"Are you being held prisoner somewhere?" I said sharply. "Where are you? We'll come rescue you!"

"Max, I'll be fine."

"Where are you?" I demanded. "Are they torturing you?"

She took a breath. "I'm in the Survivors' tower. But you can't find me, it—"

"Travels," I muttered. "I know it does. We'll get you out of there, Angel!"

"It's okay, Max," she said. "Goodnight. I'm going to make sure you have a restful sleep."

"Whoa, whoa, hey, Angel, if you make me forget this, I swear to God…" I let the threat go, realizing how empty it was.

"Just don't concern yourself," she said. "Please? I'll manage."

"Bullshit," I said. "Have they been holding you for this entire nine days? I won't leave you to—"

"I have to go now, Max," she said. "You can't imagine how much effort this takes. So, again, goodnight. Trust me, I'm fine."

"Angel, we'll—"

She vanished. A second later, I drifted off into normal sleep.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

I woke to someone tapping my shoulder.

The sun was just rising. Fang was still asleep. Imogen was crouched over me, her hand on my shoulder.

"Hey," she said.

"What's this?" I asked, instantly alert. I gently slipped out of Fang's grasp. My thoughts flickered briefly to Angel… but whether I listened to her request to leave her alone or not (which I wasn't going to) there wasn't much I could do for her at this moment.

"What's going on?" I said. "Is something wrong?"

I stood up, and she did as well.

"Nothin' wrong," she said. "Will ye fly with me?"

I scanned her face. I read an eagerness, a true desire for what she was asking for.

"Sure, Immy," I said. "Let's fly."


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

Imogen and I flew high above the fields, watching the CSM at work.

"How are ye, Max?" she finally said.

"I'm… I'm good. I'm very good. How are your lessons with Max II?"

"Oh, just grand," she said. "She possesses the natural strength that our blood gives us, and Lord knows she got plenty of exercise durin' her time in the wild… so it's only her reflexes that have faded."

"Sure," I said. "I think her reflexes, her general mental stability, are just… rusty. Underdeveloped. They grew her up to my age in only a few short months."

"Aye," Imogen said. "Cruel, it is. Ye can't compress a childhood into such a small period of time and expect technology to get all the learnin' done for ye."

I turned to face her as we banked, forming a circuit around the perimeter. "And what about the way they grew _us_?" I asked. "What do you think of that, Immy? You and me. Would you say that our life is cruel, just based solely on what they put in our DNA?"

"That depends," Imogen said. "If ye think that the very shape of our blood cells is a cruel act, then that's yer perception, and thus yer reality. But I say it's not—and that's me own reality, and shall remain as such."

"You think of your mutations as a gift," I concluded.

"Aye, I do," she said. "Without them, how could I fulfill me purpose?"

"Without them, why would you _need_ to fulfill your purpose?" I countered.

She blinked rapidly, then turned to face me. She looked bewildered—that thought had never crossed her mind in sixteen years of life.

"Food for thought, eh Immy?" I said.

As we flew on, her mouth was agape. I'd just challenged her very existence, and couldn't help feeling a little bit guilty.

"Anyway, back to Max II," I said. "How is she? I never see her during the day anymore."

"Ye don't?" Imogen said. "Well, she practices all day, ye know. I haven't spoken to her outside of a lesson in the longest time."

"Oh?"

"Aye. And while I admire her dedication, I do miss the enthusiasm she showed the first day or so. Will ye tell her I said that? I… I'd thought we were becomin' fast friends, but I seem to be gettin' a different signal lately."

I had to cover my mouth. Evidently Max II was following the "playing hard to get" plan to perfection. I considered just asking Imogen outright if she did or did not like girls—I'd hate to see Max's obsession just fall flat…

"But she learns quickly, she does," Imogen said fondly. "Already I'm glad to call her me student."

I turned my eyes back to the people on the ground. "Who are all these people?" I wondered aloud.

"They're the Coalition to Stop the Madness," Imogen said simply. "I thought ye knew."

"Yeah, but I never imagined…" I trailed off, shaking my head. "Do you know any of them, individually?"

"Sure," Imogen said. "I learned quite a bit from those who said they'd met ye. They call ye a very brave and wise leader, but arrogant and stubborn."

"Sounds about right," I said. "You know John Abate, then?"

"'Course. He's the ringmaster of this whole thing."

"And Dr. Akana?"

"Hmm… can't place that name. Ye met him here?"

"Her," I corrected. "Yeah, she was with John…" I had been curious on some matters for many days now, and I pointed out a large guy with a fuzzy black mohawk, who had caught my eye my very first day here. "Say, Immy, who's the guy with the Mr. T hairdo?" I asked.

"That's Mr. T," Imogen said.

"Oh," I said blankly. "Really? What is he, sixty? He's in good shape. Anyway, um… I was wondering, Nudge says that she saw her ex-boyfriend here. Aaron? But she hasn't been able to actually find him and speak to him. Do you know him? Native American kid, fourteen or fifteen years old…?"

"Aye," Imogen said. "Ye're lookin' for Aaron Lakelandi. He speaks of Nudge often and highly."

"Lakelandi?" I said. "I never learned his last time, but I guess that's him…"

"How many of Nudge's exes fit the description?" Imogen said rhetorically.

I laughed. "Good point. Just the one. Where can we find him? Nudge keeps losing him in the crowd."

"I don't know," Imogen said. "Perhaps he just doesn't want to face the girl who broke his heart."

I snorted at that notion as we turned around again.

"Sometimes, life is magnificent, isn't it?" Imogen called to me. "Maybe normalcy is a luxury we'll never get, but I think the speed and strength and reflexes are a worthy trade."

On impulse, I pounced on her, rocketing us both down to the ground. I pinned her facedown in the grass, and perched on her back.

"What was the meanin' of that?" she demanded. "Have I offended ye in some way?"

"No, no, not at all," I said casually. "What was that you were saying about reflexes, though?"

Imogen got to her feet as she understood what I was getting at. "Not fair," she said. "I assure ye, if our positions had been reversed, if ye had been the one to be taken by surprise, I'd have had ye pinned just as well."

"I don't think so, Immy," I said. "I don't _get_ taken by surprise."

She laughed. "Well, if ye hadn't me respect before, ye've earned it now." She extended her hand to shake. "May I call ye me friend, Maximum Ride?"

I looked down at the hand. "Well…" I began to extend my own hand, then I retracted it. "Listen, you've got to understand, there are maybe eight or nine people in the entire world who I actually trust," I said. "And that's a _lot_ more people than I ever imagined I would even know. So, if you don't mind…" I began to put my hand at my side, then something occurred to me. I took her hand and shook it vigorously. "But you know what? Someone in my flock loves you, so… yeah, I trust you. Yeah, we can be friends. Forgive my hesitation."

She frowned. "Who loves me?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothin'. Anyway, I think it's time we return to our respective flocks. Shall we?"

"Sure," Imogen said. "Say, later today, could I interest ye in a game?"

"What? A game? What kind of game?"

"Well, me flock have created some games of our own. The one I'm thinkin' for right now, what I just thought of, is a simple aerial sparrin' match. First to touch the ground is the loser."

"I like it," I said. "Shall we say high noon?"

"Gladly."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

I swooped in on my own flock.

"What's up, babe?" Fang asked. "We saw you flying around with Imogen."

"She say anything about me?" Max II said excitedly.

"Folks, today two flocks shall bond," I said proudly. "Immy and I are gonna have a big-time sparring match. Boys?"

Iggy clapped Gazzy on the shoulder, and both of them waited for me to give the order.

"I'm gonna need equipment," I said.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

A couple of hours later, Max was fully outfitted with… well… I didn't actually know.

"What'd they give you?" I asked.

"Oh, you know… the old Gaz-Ig toolkit."

"That sounds horrifying."

Max laughed. "Yeah, I agree with that."

"Sure to be an incredible duel to watch," I muttered.

"No, no, Fang, it's not a _duel_. It's just a sparring match. Real friendly. Okay?"

"Of course," I said.

"I don't wanna hurt Immy," Max said. "I've just been flying around with her, and… yeah, I think she'll be a nice buddy for the flock. Anybody have the time?"

"11:52," Gazzy said.

"Okay," Max muttered. "So, eight minutes to the fight. That's perfect. Come on, Fang, let's go have sex."

I stiffly followed her into the trees.

"Maybe she needs to climax to view the outcome of the fight," Nudge muttered. The others laughed.

Max whirled. "Hey, listen, don't judge what you've never read," she called. "That's a damn fine novel! In fact, I wonder if Felicia and Al brought it with them… nah, they had no reason to know I was gonna be here… anyway, Fang, think you can get this done before noon hits? 'Cause I really need it."

I ushered her farther into the little copse of trees. "Listen, Max," I said. "Making love with you is obviously the highlight of my life… talking about it in front of everybody? Doesn't quite make the cut."

"Okay, fine," Max said. "Just quit yappin' and get naked, would you? The fight's in eight minutes, and I _really_ need—"

"I know, I know, I know." I kissed her gently. "Any time, any place, babe."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

We were a few minutes late in greeting Imogen's flock—which I for one was very proud of, know what I mean? Both of our flocks gathered in a circle, and Max and Imogen stepped into the center.

"Hey, everybody," Imogen said.

The flock responded with various mumbled greetings.

"So, ye understand this game?" Imogen continued. "After a count of three, we both take off, and the fight begins, with both of us tryin' to force the other to the ground. First to touch the ground loses."

"Right on," Max said. "We're ready, then?"

"Not quite. We haven't discussed stakes."

"Stakes? Ooh, I like the cut of your jib, Immy. What'd you have in mind?"

Imogen smiled broadly. "Well, I know what I'm wagerin'. I'm confident enough to swear that if ye win, me flock and I'll wait on ye hand and foot. We'll be yer slaves for the week."

Max grinned in response. "I like that! And if you win, my flock plays slaves to yours, correct?"

"Aye," Imogen said. "And me first command will be for ye to quit callin' me Immy."

I leaned forward to catch Max's mock-horrified expression.

"Are ye ready, then?" Imogen said.

"Totes," Max said. "So, we take to the air on three?"

"Aye."

Max and Imogen both spread their wings—Max's tanned and streaked and speckled, the most beautiful wings on the planet, and Imogen's black and leathery, with ridges and spines. They clasped hands, and in unison counted "One… two… three…"

They took off. In seconds, they were fifty feet in the air, and catching an updraft.

"Beat her soundly, Imogen!" Sean called. "I'd like to see these rogues servin' us drinks—where they belong!"

I glared at Sean. "What the HELL is that supposed to mean?"

Sean smirked. "This fight is between the women, Master Fang, and so shall it be settled."

Max and Imogen rotated around each other. Neither of them had made any moves toward each other yet… I knew what they were doing. Scoping each other out, waiting for the other to lose patience.

I had no doubt that the one to lose patience would, in fact, be Max… but I knew that that wouldn't necessarily keep her from winning. My Max was the most rock-solid warrior in the world.

The two combatants feinted and lunged for a few seconds. I kept my eyes on them, despite the noontime sun directly between the two of them. I was dimly aware of Nudge whispering a play-by-play into Iggy's ear—which he didn't seem to need. I suspected he could probably make out their outlines well enough, with whatever anti-blindness tools his DNA had cooked up.

"Well, I'm officially bored," someone muttered.

I glanced to my right. It was the twins, Jacqueline and Falon. I had never heard them speak.

"Is no' like we 'aven' seen a figh' before," said the other—or maybe it was the same one, I really couldn't tell.

"We can always leave," the twin closer to me said.

"Yeah, go off and do somefing else…"

"And if the figh' turns out well, we can 'ear abou' it la'er."

"I go' no problem wiv 'at."

"Then we're selled."

They spoke in turn, and their accents were very different from Imogen's and Sean's. Some sort of English regional thing… whatcha call it… Cockney.

The two of them went around the edges of the group of spectators, meeting up perfectly to flank Gazzy.

"Come play wiv us, Gazzy," they said in unison, then laughed at his horrified expression.

"Huh?" Gazzy said. "Why me?"

"Why no' you?" one of them said.

"You fink we could possibly wan' anyone else?" said the other.

"Well," Gazzy said. "I'm kind of watching the—"

"Oh, you don't need to watch dat," a twin muttered.

"Come wiv us," the other reiterated. "We insis'."

The twins hooked their arms around Gazzy's and flew off with him.

I turned my attention back to the match. Imogen and Max were now twirling and dodging each other, both trying to force the other to the ground.

Imogen threw an artful kick to Max's wing. Max reflexively tucked her wing in, causing her to drop slightly. Imogen began to flutter upward, but Max—never one to be concerned with finesse—grabbed Imogen by the back of her pants, dragging them both down together.

Imogen positioned herself above Max, making sure that Max would be the first to hit the ground. Max pumped her wings, wincing at the pain in the one that Imogen had hit, and tried to stay aloft.

Max was lighter than Imogen, and couldn't force herself up. Finally, she managed to veer to the side. Both of them came deathly close to touching the ground, but they quickly broke apart and took to the air again.

The flock cheered, and so did Sean—both combatants were performing brilliantly.

Max got up above Imogen, who started flying upside-down to maintain eye contact. With no response from Imogen, Max hit Imogen between the eyes with a curled palm. Imogen shrieked, which caught Max off guard long enough for Imogen to throw a kick into Max's gut.

Imogen righted herself, and I could see her face. It was etched with fury. I exchanged nervous glances with Nudge and Max II. What could have led to that?

As Imogen was growling, she started to swoop low over the ground—a necessary risk, I knew from my own experience flying. Max came up behind her and whipped something out of an inside pocket. I knew immediately that she was putting some of her toolkit to use. It was an air horn.

Max held the horn right behind Imogen's head and pressed the button. The horn blew, and Imogen jerked in surprise and careened into the ground, tumbling through grass and dirt.

The flock applauded as Max settled to the ground. Sean rushed to Imogen's side.

"That was awesome," Iggy said.

"Thank you," Max replied. "And thank _you_, Immy. That was an epic fall! We'll be talking about that one for a while."

Imogen lifted her head off the ground. Her face was caked with dirt and fresh blood. And she was positively seething.

"Whoa, take it easy," Max said. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

"Cleaned up?" Imogen demanded. "What is…" She rubbed her face, and shrieked at the sight of her hand. "Oh God! Nosebleed…"

"Nosebleed?" Max repeated, confused.

"And I'm dirty… oh, God, oh, God, oh, God…" Imogen turned back to Max, enraged. "WHY WOULD YE DO THAT?" she screeched. "What did I ever do to ye? Ye're horrible!"

Max II stepped forward. "Imogen," she said gently. "You've… you've never actually fought anybody before, have you?"

Imogen got to her feet, still scowling. "No, I've not," she said. "But that doesn't mean I don't know what honor is! Ye cheated me, Maximum Ride, and now I'm dirty and bleedin'…"

"Honor?" Max said. "Is that what they teach you at the Irish mutant school?"

"Aye, it's how I was raised," Imogen snapped. "I was taught to ALWAYS fight with honor!"

"Well, I'm sorry," Max said. "I was taught to always fight dirty. To never let them get me, no matter what. Honor hasn't ever really been my thing."

A tear streaked through the dirt on Imogen's furious face.

"Listen, that's how I survive!" Max said. "Okay? Fighting the way I do, it's what's kept me alive all these years. And I won our encounter, Immy, you know? So I suggest you reexamine your principles if you want to be a part of this. 'Cause when you're fighting people who genuinely, sincerely, with all their hearts want you dead? Honor's not gonna enter into it."

Imogen growled and took to the air.

"Imogen?" Max II whispered pitifully. She turned to her original, both of their faces identical masks of pure confusion, and chased after Imogen's retreating figure.

Max looked around at the flock, and we assured her that we were as bewildered as she was—that we hadn't seen her do anything wrong.

"Ye're unbelievable, ye know that?" Sean growled. "Absolutely unbelievable! I seen yer damn self-righteous weblog. 'Ooh, I'm Maximum Ride! I've got a voice in me head! Bow down, bow down, I'll save ye all! I'll save the whole damn planet!'"

"I do _not_ say that!" Max said defensively. "Other people say it to me, and I don't even believe it!"

"Good," Sean snarled. "'Cause watchin' ye all this time, I've no doubt that ye're nothin'. Ye're nothin'! Nothin' but a bully, a savage! And it's time everybody knew that!" Sean raised his voice as people began crowding around nervously.

Sean loomed over Max. She was cowering.

Max doesn't cower. _Nobody_ makes Max cower.

I was gonna teach that bastard Sean a lesson.

I leapt onto him and grabbed him by the throat, not caring at all about all the friendly witnesses. "That's my wife you're saying that ridiculous garbage to," I hissed. "I _don't_ take kindly to people talking to her that way."

"Fang…" Max said shakily.

Sean laughed through my strangling hands. "Well, I've done nothin' but speak the truth, and ye know it, Fang," he rasped. "Ye know who yer 'wife' is, don't ye? Ye know ye're married to a useless, barbaric _nobody_—"

I tightened my grip. Sean coughed, spewing a bit of blood, but didn't relent. "Do ye all know who ye're followin'?" he asked Nudge and Iggy. "Are ye becomin'… _her_? Ye'd best hope not…"

I twisted his neck and shoved his face into Max's. "Say sorry," I growled.

"Never," he replied.

"You apologize to Max or I'll snap your neck, Sean, I swear to God," I said through gritted teeth. I felt my hands shaking, so much rage I was putting into it.

"Snap it, then," Sean said. "All ye'll be doin' is provin' me point…"

Dr. Martinez rushed out of the crowed. "Fang, don't do this," she said loudly.

"Did you hear what he's been saying, Mom?" I said, nearly delirious at this point. "Give me a good reason I shouldn't just break his neck right now for what he said about Max…"

"Fang. No."

That tiny plea came from Max. I instantly released Sean. He stumbled off, rubbing his neck. After my death grip, his face was nearly as blue as his wings, but his expression was smug.

Max scratched her head uneasily. "What… what just _happened_, Fang?" she muttered. She started flapping her wings, and pushed off. "Imogen?" she called tentatively.

Sean glared. "Ye stay away from Imogen," he said. "She doesn't need to hear yer arrogance."

I hooked my fingers into Sean's nostrils and pulled him close to me. "If you enjoy anything about having a pulse," I whispered, "_you_ stay away from _Max_. She'll talk to whoever she wants."

"Fang…" Max said. "Please…"

I stepped away from Sean, backward, not turning my back on him until I was directly between Iggy and Nudge. "Come on, you two," I said.

They flew off with me, and Max flew off after Imogen. Looking down to the ground, I saw that Sean hadn't moved at all. He was still staring at me. His expression still conveyed nothing but the utmost smugness.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

Imogen sat on a ledge, her face buried in her hands. Max II sat next to her, gently rubbing her back.

I could see them but not hear them, until I started drifting lower… then I realized that Max was singing.

My clone, singing! A comforting lullaby for Imogen.

Dang-gum, that girl's a sweetheart! To think, four years ago we were engaging in a very sincere fight to the death.

Some things I get over, others not so much. I surprise even myself.

Anyway, I took to the air again, to give Max and Immy some privacy. I had heard the song, though.

Iggy told me once that he believed the entire flock possessed an innate gift for music, just like birds, that it ran through our blood. I wasn't sure if that was a sound theory, or if I'd've even cared if it was. But hearing Max II sing! It was her voice, so obviously my voice as well, and it was beautiful. I knew immediately that I wanted to make music like that.

I backed away further, trying to get out of visual range… but that's not easy when you're up so high and you can see so well. I clearly saw that Max II had dropped a confession-bomb, and Imogen reacted with shock… then smiled broadly.

I was up too high for the humans on the ground to even be able to tell if I was human or bird, but I saw the moment when Imogen leaned into Max and their lips met.

I began my descent. Max II caught sight of me.

I tapped my heart with my palm, smiling. It truly was the sweetest thing.

Max II shrugged and waved me over. I sat next to her, putting her between me and Imogen.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey, Max," Imogen said, looking out into the field.

I clasped Max II's hand. "This is so great," I said.

She shrugged. "I dunno," she muttered.

"What?" I said. "Is something wrong? What happened?"

I looked to Imogen, who shrugged.

"She doesn't know what happened," Max II interjected. "It all happened in here." She tapped her own head. "Anyway… Imogen wanted me to find you, Max, so it's… good that you showed up. I'll leave you to it."

She dove off the ledge and flew away.

"So, she's the one had feelins for me?" Imogen said.

"Yeah," I said.

"Guess it makes sense," Imogen murmured. "So determined to get through her lessons, and she wasn't even all that bad of a fighter."

"She just wanted to be close to you," I agreed. "Listen, Immy, I'm… I'm sorry."

"Don't ye dare be sorry," Imogen snapped. "I feel like crap right now, ye know that? Freakin' out like that over a bloody nose and a minor breach in the rules of engagement? I'm completely revolted right now… with meself." She sighed. "Ah, it's just… all me life, they been tellin' me, 'Imogen—yer life, yer very bein' Imogen, is the most important thing anybody's ever gotten accomplished. 'Cause ye're supposed to save the world.'"

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "That's precisely what they said to me…" I muttered.

"And now," Imogen continued, "here I am, cryin' over a stinkin' nosebleed… I mean, that's gotta be completely alien to ye, am I right? Ye wouldn't dream of cryin' over a physical injury."

"Hey, what I wouldn't give to… to be the kind of person who remembers where they got all their little scars and cuts," I said. "I would _so_ love to live in a world where, like, say, breaking my leg is a major cause for alarm. But that's not the case… even what _you_ have sounds better than what I have."

"I've got nothin'," Imogen said. "I don't know _anything_ about saving the world. How could I possibly…?

"Immy, Immy, hey," I said. "You don't _need_ to save the world. Neither of us need to do that. We're not their tools. We're people, with our own minds, our own lives. Okay?"

She didn't answer. I could tell she was processing that.

"And if we do save the world, I think you'll be a lot more prepared for it than I will," I added. "You've spent your life training for it. My guys went about it entirely the wrong way. You don't teach a girl to save the world by torturing her and messing with her mind… but, you know, like I said to Sean—who's a total douche bag, by the way—"

"Hey, don't say that," Imogen interrupted. "He cares about me. He's me brother. He gets… overly defensive. Too much. But I still love him, Max, and ye should trust that he means well."

"Well, anyway, I was telling him… people tell me I'm supposed to save the world, but I don't buy that! I want my own life, with me and my family. If the world's saved, well, that's fan-doodly-tastic, but my main concern is the well-being of the people I love. I think that's a good deal."

Imogen sighed. "Ye might be right about that."

"I am," I said confidently. "Anyway, what exactly are your plans for the apocalypse?"

"I don't know," she said. "They never tell me a thing."

"Yeah, me neither," I muttered.

"But… try to forgive Sean, okay?" she said. "We'll… _need_ to get along, the lot of us. 'Cause someday, from what they tell me, we mutants'll be all that's left of humanity." She smiled. "So, I'm hopin' we'll all be friends when that happens…"

"I'd hope so too," I said. "Otherwise… majorly uncomfortable. But, I don't think we need to worry about that. See, 'cause in _my_ version of saving the world… _everybody_ lives."

As she thought about that, I pitched myself off the ledge and floated back up to her.

"You're really cool, Immy—sorry, _Imogen_," I said. I shot her a thumbs-up. "Stay that way, all right?"

She gave me the thumbs-up back as I veered off and then settled to the ground, to walk back to my flock.

I heard an impossibly loud cricket chirp.

"Sup, Jeb?" I said, not looking at him. "Listening in, I suppose? Did I pass another test?"

He didn't answer, and I still didn't give him the dignity of looking at him.

"Of course I did," I said. "If I'm destined to save the world, then of course I'm gonna pass the tests. That's what 'destiny' means, jackass. So, why don't you quit being all cryptic with me and tell me what's happening to the world?"

He didn't answer, didn't make any sound at all. I resisted the temptation to turn around and look for him—I knew, with no sensory perceptions, just my intuition, I _knew_ he was still there.

"You know, you almost had me," I said. "I started thinking maybe you were a real-live person. I started to trust you. I asked you for help. I seriously considered letting you back into my heart. Hell, I even _thanked_ you for fighting Jewel off. …Don't know what I was thinking."

Still no answer.

"I'll see you around, traitor," I said. "'Cause that's still what you are, and I'm not about to forget that."

He still didn't answer, but I felt his presence, right over my shoulder.

"Go kiss a spider," I sneered. I started to run before he could touch me.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

When Jacqueline and Falon dragged me off, I didn't know what to expect. But I didn't ask. Their faces were stony, and they didn't say a word to me as we flew. I was intimidated.

To my surprise, we stopped on the outskirts of a little village in the hills.

"What the hey?" I blurted.

One of the twins laughed. "Wha'? You don' fink we ever go to town?"

"Is the only town around 'ere," the other said. "We sneak in, whenever we wanna ge' some stuff, or jus' ge' away from the flock."

"Why… why… why do you want to get away from the flock?" I stammered. They scared the hell out of me; neither one of them had let go of my arm once.

"Oh, you know. Jus' a bi' of independence… we need dat. Don' you?"

I shrugged. "Maybe sometimes. But… but I wouldn't want to be completely alone."

One of them smirked at me. "Well… you're no'," she said simply.

I shrugged. "That's true. What's to do around here?"

"We usually stop for tea and pizza," the one on my right said. "Join us?"

"Sure," I said.

They sat down at the outdoor café, in perfect sync. They rapid-fire ordered drinks, and the server scampered away.

"So," I said, joining them. "Um… are you two… clones, or natural twins?"

"Twins," one replied instantly. "Grew togever in the womb."

"I thought so," I said. The way their postures fit together and they occasionally spoke in turn, reminded me more of Ray and Ram than of Max and Max II… of course, Ray and Ram were hardly identical anymore, but they still had that identical-twin bond.

"And, um… how do people tell you apart?" I asked.

One of them laughed. "Can' be done," she said.

"But, jus' for righ' now, we'll make this easy for you," the other said. She put her feet up on the table, revealing her powder-blue-and-white tennis shoes. "I'm Falon, and I'm wearing blue shoes… she's Jacqueline, her shoes are pink."

"That's the only difference?" I said blankly.

"Sometimes none a' all," Jacqueline replied, then she laughed powerfully.

"You're freakin' the poor guy ou', Jackie," Falon chided. "I fort we came 'ere to ge' to know 'im, no' scare 'im away."

"Yes, yes, 'course," Jacqueline said. She leered at me. "Yes, 'at's wha' we wan'ed. Gazzy… you named yourself, then?"

"Me? No," I said. "Max and Fang and Iggy named themselves, then when the rest of us showed up, those three gave us our names."

"I see," Falon said. "And wha's it mean, 'Gazzy'? Is it short for somefing, like 'Max' for 'Maximum Ride'?"

"Um… uh-huh," I said. I suddenly felt a bit awkward. I had honestly never thought twice about what my name was. Sure, strangers always hesitated to repeat it. Sure, it had its… implications. But it was me; it was my name. Now, though, I wasn't sure that I wanted the twins to know it. "It's short, um, for… my name is 'The Gasman'."

Their eyebrows lifted, but evidently I was giving out strong "don't-pursue-the-issue" signals, because they didn't say a word.

"Well, we know your back-story," Jacqueline finally said. "Perhaps we ort to tell ours, Falon?"

"I'd… I'd like to hear where you came from," I said. "You… you must have been raised separately from Imogen and Sean, or you'd have the same accent they do."

"Aye, we were raised in the lil' Itex HQ down in London," Falon said bitterly. "And tha' upbringing was no' unlike your own."

"We were trained," Jacqueline said. "As Imogen was, but some'ow was jus'… differen'. We don' feel the same as she…"

"'Ow old were we the firs' time we saw the sun?" Falon mused.

"Too old," Jacqueline said simply.

"If there's any 'first time', you're too old," I muttered.

The twins looked up at me, as if I'd said something profound. Well, I kind of had. But that was no reason for the two of them to be as fascinated as they looked.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

I spent a long time with Jacqueline and Falon in the little village. We hung around the fountain, we talked about our lives, we ate meal after meal… I was shocked to look up and see the sun setting.

"Whoa," I muttered.

"Nice time of nigh'," Jacqueline said. Despite my surprise, the sunset _was_ beautiful.

"You mind if we smoke, Gazzy?" Falon said abruptly, holding a pack of cigarettes.

"Um… you mind if I stand about nineteen feet away while we talk?" I countered nervously.

Falon laughed. "All righ' then, we won' smoke."

She masterfully flicked the pack high above her head. It landed on somebody's balcony. Jacqueline produced another pack and did the same.

"How did you start smoking?" I said casually. I was actually repulsed—generally, finding out a person smokes is a deal-breaker for me. But it seemed we had all become such good friends that I couldn't let a trivial thing like that put an end to the whole day.

Jacqueline rolled a shoulder noncommittally. "'Oo knows?" she asked. "I dunno when it began… but now's as good a time as any to up and qui', aye?"

"I suppose," I said.

"Say, Gazzy," Falon said, leaning on me. "D'you kiss a girl nicely?"

"Uh… what?" I stammered.

"You 'eard me," Falon retorted.

"Um… well… I don't know. I never tried."

"Never?" Falon demanded, her eyes widening playfully. "'Ow'd that 'appen?"

"Um… well, I've been living in an underground lair the past four years," I muttered. "Not many people around to kiss."

"Uh-huh," Falon muttered. "Well, le's give you a tes' drive."

She planted a kiss on me. I registered nothing but my own sudden, rapid blinking.

"Well," Falon said. "Solid, bu' you could use some work."

"Whoa, whoa, hey," I said. "You took me by surprise. I didn't have time to… you know, plan."

"Oh?" Falon said slyly.

"Step away, Falon," Jacqueline said. "Is my turn now."

Jacqueline kissed me then… prolonged… steamy… sweet.

"Oh, Falon, you're wrong," Jacqueline said. "'E's very good…"

"All righ', le's see 'im when 'e's ready for it…" Falon kissed me again.

"What is happening?" I said, my voice cracking slightly.

The twins laughed. In sync, they kissed my cheeks and rested their heads on my shoulders.

"Jus' some friends," Jacqueline said. "Teachin' one anuver impor'an' life skills."

I looked between the two of them. "Well, all right," I muttered.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

Fang, Nudge, and I rested in a tree. Nudge started kissing my neck, but I pushed her away, indicating Fang to her. Fang wasn't a fan of PDA when he was the one doing it; I figured I might as well be sensitive and not force him to watch.

"It's okay, you guys," Fang said. "Nobody said I had to be here."

"No, dude," I said. "We're not leaving you alone for one minute. I can already see the suicide note being composed inside your head there."

Fang chuckled. "What can I say? Everybody's got abandonment issues. It's hip."

Both Maxes came diving in at that moment, landing on the ground. Like everyone else, I could tell them apart from their posture, evident in their footsteps and wing beats. Max II always seemed a bit slumped and depressed.

More so now than usual, in fact.

Nudge hopped down to the ground. "How's Imogen?" she said, concerned.

"She's fine," Max said. "Better than fine, in fact. She was only upset because… she thinks we're stronger than she is. But we're going to help her, everybody. Oh, and Imogen is probably cheered up by the fact that she has a lady-friend now." I heard a scratching noise, and figured that Max was giving her clone a noogie.

"Knock it off," Max II muttered.

"Oh, that's so great!" Nudge said. "Did you kiss her?"

"Yeah," Max II said. "But… I don't think that Imogen and I are gonna work out."

"What?" Nudge said sharply. "Why not? What'd she do to you?"

"Nothing, nothing, I was just… wrong, that's all."

"Wrong?" Nudge repeated. "About her? What, is she not so great? Ooh, I've always wanted to do something like this. A breakup recovery! Here's what we do: we get a great big tub of ice cream, and we hang around and we trash-talk the bastard until the wounds are healed. Trash-talk the bitch, I mean, in this case. It's usually meant for straight chicks, but I think the process will work just as well with—"

"Nudge," Max II snapped. "Take five, sis. Okay? No, I wasn't wrong about Imogen. She's the greatest. I was wrong about _me_. I'm not gay."

"Oh," Nudge said sadly. "Are you sure? You were so smitten."

"I don't know," Max II said. "Yeah, Imogen's an amazing person. Maybe I was just so desperate to fall in love with _somebody_ that I took my admiration for her and… you know, took it the wrong way. When I kissed her, I realized, we'd be great together, but… I need a boy. I guess that's just who I am." She snorted. "I feel like such dirt right now…"

"What, because you're straight?" I said dryly. "That is acceptable, you know. A lot of people are straight nowadays."

"No, Iggy," she said patiently. "I'm upset because I feel like I was leading her on! I know she liked me too. What am I gonna tell her now?"

"Hey, it's okay," Max said. "You don't have to feel like you were leading her on, because you weren't. She can't get mad at you for realizing who you are."

I heard another pair of wings beating, and someone settled on the branch next to me.

"Hey-hey, there's the Gasman," I said. "Where have you been?"

"I dunno," he replied.

"You don't know where you've been?" I said dubiously.

"No, not, like… I don't know. I mean… maybe I shouldn't be the Gasman anymore."

Everybody paused to consider that. "That's gonna take a lotta Pepto," Max finally said.

"No, no," Gazzy snapped. "I mean… I want to change my name. You know, the name was a funny gimmick when the flock was all a bunch of little kids, but… we've gotta start being more mature. I'm twelve now. I need a real name. Maybe not a real-real name, but something more… dignified."

The heavy silence went around again. "Gazzy was hanging around with the hot British chippies," Nudge said. "Is this 'dignified and mature' thing for their benefit? 'Cause, Gazzy…"

"No! I'm not Gazzy! And no, it's not for _them_. I just realized this, all right? Nobody's gonna respect me when my name is the Gasman."

"Excuse me," Max said, "but you're currently surrounded by people who respect you just fine."

"Well, maybe just all you guys isn't enough for me," Gazzy said. "Maybe I need the respect of some actual people, you ever think of that? So, stop calling me Gazzy. I'm gonna figure out what my name should be."

"Fine," Max said. "In the meantime, what the hell do we call you?"

"I don't know!"

Max II flew up to our tree to sit next to Gazzy… or whoever. "Listen, little guy," she said. "A name is a very special thing. You should hang onto it, keep it close to yourself. Not change it."

Gazzy was silent for a long moment. "So, that's why you won't change your name? That's why, when somebody asks for Max around here, they get two responses? And then that somebody has to clarify whether they mean the real Max or her basket-case lesbian clone? That's the dumbest reasoning I ever heard! I'm changing my name. You should too. Okay? Now everybody quit buggin' me." He flew away.

Max II started stammering. "I… I… Max, what…?"

"It's okay, Max. I think Gazzy's just… growing up. It's a tough thing to do. Iggy, will you go talk to him?"

"Actually," Nudge said, "would you mind if I hung onto Iggy for a while? I… I kind of need him."

"Uh, okay," Max said. "Then you talk to him, Fang."

Fang grunted his assent and flew off silently.

"You need me, Nudge?" I said. "What for?"

"Oh… just a little project I'd like your help with," Nudge replied.

"A project? I'm in. What's the project?"

"We know now that Aaron is here," she said. "And he's been avoiding me. We're gonna go find out what's up with him."

"I'm out of the project," I said instantly.

"Iggy, will you stop being so petty?" Nudge said. "He's only my ex-boyfriend. It's not like he was a complete jerk."

"Well, far be it from me to be petty, but yeah he was," I said.

"He was eleven years old," Nudge retorted. "He didn't know what he was doing, anymore than I did at that age… you know, until you and me," she amended hastily. "Come on, Iggy, I just want to find him and get some closure."

"Well, how am I supposed to help?" I said innocently. "Blind, remember?"

"Oh, knock it off," Nudge said. "You see more than anybody else does, so quit playing dumb. I _know_ you can pick Aaron out of the crowd. Come on, Iggy, I thought you wanted to make me happy."

I sighed. "Okay," I said dramatically. "If you want to find the dude who tormented you to tears, I guess it's my duty to help you out."

I took to the air, and she followed. Beneath me, I could sense all the people going around their jobs. I could hear them, and I could smell them, but I could also _sense_ them. I don't know how else to describe it. I searched for a particular sensation, one that I had painstakingly trained myself, nearly four years ago at the Day and Night School, to utterly loathe.

"He's this way," I said, and pulled into a dive.

I zeroed in on Aaron's pull. Once I got close enough to hear him, I realized that he was running away, his heart pounding. I swooped in on him and knocked him on his face, before landing neatly on the ground in front of him.

"Hey," I said. "Aaron, right?"

"Hi, Iggy," he grumbled, getting to his feet.

Nudge landed next to me. "Aaron," she said. "It really is you! Why aren't you dead? Why are you with the CSM? And why haven't you come to see me?"

Aaron sighed. "Ah, so many questions. I'm not dead because the night before Jewel destroyed our school, my mom went into labor. I was flown back to Denver to be there for the birth. I didn't hear about what happened until… after. I'm with the CSM because I believe in their cause… although, trust me, if I'd known that you would be coming here, I wouldn't have come within a hundred miles of this organization. But, you're here now, and I'm too committed to just wander off, so… here we are."

"Then you _are_ avoiding me!" Nudge said. "Why?"

"Because, I don't think it would be good for us to see each other," Aaron said. "I figured that if we did, then, A, it'd be really stressful for both of us, and B, your pet Viking here would kick my ass."

"Right on," I said, applauding. "Two for two, Aaron."

Nudge was quiet for a moment. "Your… your mom went into labor?" she said. "You never told me your mom was pregnant."

"Yeah," Aaron said. "I have another brother. He's three now."

"_Another_ brother?" Nudge repeated.

"I have a few brothers, yeah," Aaron replied. "You didn't know that. Didn't know I was from Denver, either, did you? I bet you don't even remember my last name."

"You never told me your last name," Nudge said.

"It's Lakelandi," Aaron said. "But of course you don't know that. You never asked for it, did you? But… but I knew you. I knew _everything_ about you. What I wouldn't have given for you to know me… then we never would have become apart."

Nudge sighed. "Aaron, we would have. I _did_ know you. Maybe not the little things, but I knew you well enough to, at the time, be in love with you. And I knew you well enough to be distraught when you didn't want to be my friend."

"Well, at least _that_ hasn't changed," Aaron said.

"Aaron, dude," I said. "Your tone. It's bitter."

"Well, yeah, that 'hasn't changed'," Nudge said. "I wanted to find you, to tell you that I want us to get to know each other again."

"I don't _want_ to be your friend, Nudge!" Aaron snarled. "Okay? I don't want anything to do with you if we're 'just friends'. So, you've got two choices. You can ditch the abominable snowman and come back to me, or you can get out of my face and never talk to me again."

Nudge inhaled sharply. "Oh, wow," she said. "Decisions, decisions. Are those my only options? I'm gonna have to think on that, you son of a bitch!"

She kicked him hard in the chest. I heard multiple bones breaking as he fell backward onto the grass. Nudge turned away from him and stomped off. I followed her.

"Aren't you so glad we went looking for him?" I said facetiously.

"Shut up, Iggy," she snapped.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

I filled my cup from the soda machine in the corner of the CSM base. Without giving the actions a second thought, I picked up a straw and lid and fastened them to my cup.

I felt something huge looming behind me, and heard a low growl, too deep to be easily heard by most folks.

"Hey, Cell," I said.

It groaned a return greeting.

"Can I get you anything?" I said.

"NNNNNNNNNO."

"Okay," I said. I took a sip of the soda, then knocked on the Living Cell's wall. "Mind if I come inside?"

An entrance expanded directly in front of me. I stepped inside, and it sealed behind me. Oh, that was nice! To be away from all of those sensory perceptions. With all the sounds and the smells and whatever you call all the other senses I've got, I did not do well with public places… and where I was right now was about as not-public as it gets.

To add to my comfort, I felt the stony floor beneath me become soft. The Cell was molding a piece of itself into the shape of a cushy recliner. I leaned back, sinking into it.

"Ah, that's nice," I said. I took another sip of my soda. "Nice to get away from it all. You know what's bothering me, Cell? Rumble if you want to know."

The walls around me vibrated.

"Are you sure? 'Cause you don't _need_ to listen to me whine."

The walls rumbled again.

"All right. It's me and Nudge, you know? We've been doing really great. It's almost like we're engaged. Do you think that's fair to say, that we're engaged?"

It replied with a groan that sounded affirmative enough.

"Right. But right now… oh, man, she's so angry. She has a big problem. And she doesn't want _my_ help, that's for sure. And I'm starting to feel like all those years of love and commitment are going away because of her damn ex-boyfriend. But, you know, in a way, that's the dude who helped us, me and Nudge, realize that we belong together. I don't know whether to shake the guy's hand or rip it off."

I leaned back, thinking it all over. "I don't even know why I'm talking about this," I muttered. "Why it even matters how I feel… for that matter, why am I talking to _you_? It's not like you're a shrink. Although you can."

It chuckled.

"What are you laughing at that for?" I demanded. "That wasn't funny. That was the worst pun ever. I don't know what I was thinking…" But I laughed along with it. It was nice to know that, even with all the flock busy, there was someone to laugh at my god-awful jokes with me.

The ceiling of the Cell opened then, and Nudge was hovering above. Don't ask how I knew it was Nudge. I just did.

She floated down into the Cell with me. "Hey, Iggy," she said. "I'm really sorry I was so mean to you. You were right. Aaron was a jerkwad back at school, and he still is."

"Oh, hey, that's okay, Nudge, honest," I said. "I'm sorry that I was so smug about the whole thing. I know you loved him, and that this was all really hurtful for you… I shouldn't have made a big joke out of it, and—"

From my reclining position, Nudge got on top of me and started kissing me madly. "Mm… mm, Iggy…" she muttered.

"Whoa, whoa, Nudge," I said. "We ain't exactly alone in here, you know?"

Nudge giggled. "I don't care," she said. "In fact… hey, L.C., how would you like to be our honeymoon suite?"

It responded with one of the most sincere and gentle noises I'd ever heard from any kind of creature. The simple rumble shook my entire body pleasantly, and a warm breeze blew through.

"Thank you," I said.

"We've got it made," Nudge said.

"Hell yeah," I said. "I… I love you, Nudge."

"And I love my Iggy," she replied. She came at me with more passionate kisses.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**Wow, I did **_**not**_** intend this chapter to be as long as it is. But hey, there's no downside to a high word count, am I right?**


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

"Yo," Jewel said.

Lang and Shey lifted their eyes from their board game. Jewel was staring them down, drumming his fingers on the table.

"Sup?" Lang muttered.

"I'd just like to know… don't take it the wrong way, just curious… what side you two are on," Jewel said.

"We're on whatever side keeps us alive," Lang said. "I thought you knew that."

Jewel stuck his bladed arms into the center of their board game, knocking over all the playing pieces, and poised his arms against their throats.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say we're on _your_ side now," Lang said coolly.

"Correct," Jewel said. He withdrew his blades. "Come with me."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Jewel led Lang and Shey down a stone hallway.

"So, what's shakin', Drool?" Shey asked. "You're feeling the need to bust out of here?"

"Not yet," Jewel said. "And what the hell did you just call me?"

Lang chuckled. "Little Airy calls you Drool," he said. "That guy Grease told us."

"Grease is here?" Jewel demanded.

"And Gum and Mud, the whole family," Shey added. "Funny guys, those three."

Jewel growled. "Funny," he muttered. "But, no, we're not busting out. Before we leave, I want to have a few words with this group's leader… tell him exactly how I feel about this business."

"The leader?" Lang said quietly. "That's the guy with the scythe, right? Have you ever actually seen him?"

"No," Jewel said.

"And are you sure it's a him?" Shey added. "Could be a woman."

"Granted," Jewel agreed.

"How are you gonna meet him?" Lang said. "All he does is send out projections. We don't even know if he's in the tower at all…"

"No, he's here," Jewel growled. "And he'll come to me."

They had arrived at Jewel's room, and he invited them in with a sweep of his hand.

"Ordinarily," Jewel said, "most folks will have to go through Janssen to get to the boss. And she doesn't actually _let_ anybody through. You have to deal with her. But I'm going to get the attention of the guy who's pulling the strings. I'm going to let him know I mean business."

"How?" Lang said.

Jewel leaned out the door, and saw three guards passing by. "Hey, you three," he said, beckoning them. "A word."

The three of them nervously entered. Jewel shut the door behind them.

"Check this out right here," he said to Lang and Shey.

He shot out his hands to two of them, crushing their windpipes instantly. Before the third guard could even react, Jewel had cut his throat with a third hand.

Jewel lifted a panel in the floor and tossed the bodies in. "I think the steadily increasing number of disappearing guards should drive my point home well enough," Jewel said casually.

Lao Hu entered the room.

"There you are, my raven," Jewel said sweetly. "Find anything out?"

She shook her head. "They call him Headmaster. That's all I could find out. Nobody's ever seen his face, heard his real voice, or gotten a name."

"Hmm," Jewel said. "That's… interesting. Ah, well, we're not arranging a meeting with him to find out his name, are we?"

Lao Hu turned to her two former comrades. "These two are joining us?" she said.

"Evidently," Shey muttered.

"You understand our purposes, don't you, my friend? You have sympathy for us?"

"Evidently."

Lao Hu turned back to Jewel. "My love, I also heard something else interesting. The CSM, the Coalition to Stop the Madness, they're massing an army. They've long been enemies of the many organizations that comprise the Survivors, and now it seems they're taking a _very_ active role."

"The CSM army," Jewel mused. "That's interesting. Not to worry; we can kill all of _them_ too." He cupped Lao Hu's face. "Whatever it takes for you to be queen again…"

"And you to be my king," Lao Hu finished.

Jewel slammed his blades together. "Don't know _why_ I even thought for a second I had to answer to anybody," he growled. "The people who made me think that _will_ be eliminated."


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

Back on our grounded airplane, Danny continued to track the Survivor's base.

"Are you still tracking it with the dip?" I demanded.

"No, no, we've got a bead on the tower itself now," Danny said. "Although we _can_ still detect the dip. Either Kellie never washes her hands or the stuff lasts forever."

"Oh, it lasts forever, baby," Iggy said.

Fang raised his eyebrows. "Seriously, Ig, what do you _put_ in that queso dip?"

"Queso."

"Besides that."

"Secret ingredients."

"Like what?"

"Now, if I told you, they wouldn't be secret."

"Oh, come on."

"No."

"Iggy…"

"Fine, fine. Can you keep a secret?"

"Yes," Fang said.

"Great," Iggy said. "Me too."

Fang sighed and turned to me. "What are we gonna do with this guy, Max?"

"Feed him to the piranhas," I said simply. "So, Danny, what have you got here?"

"I'm trying to figure out a pattern to the tower's movements," Danny said. "It seems like its traveling is completely random. I can't find any consistencies to it… it's frustrating."

Ray patted Danny's head with a wing. "Don't worry about it, Dan. If there was a pattern, you'd have found it. There isn't one."

"Yeah," I said. "Come on, Danny, you've got an IQ of, what, twelve thousand? You can figure it out."

"Twelve thousand?" Danny said. "Who told you that?"

"Huh? Nobody. Isn't it yours, multiplied by an octopus's? I was rounding down…"

"No, no, _added_," Danny said. "Added, not multiplied. My IQ is 318."

"Oh," I said. "Well, that's still pretty good, right?"

"Doesn't get any better," Danny said cheerfully. He chuckled. "Twelve thousand… that's impossible. Who told you it was multiplied?"

"The Big Guy always said that," Albert offered.

"Oh, of course," Danny said. "He liked to hype me, the Big Guy did." He laughed.

With Albert and Felicia reunited with Danny and the twins, there was a noticeable increase in the morale of all five of them. Danny was more cheerful than I'd ever seen him.

"We need to save Angel, Danny," I said. "There must be some way we can find that base!"

"I'm trying," Danny said. "I'm doing everything I can. I've been watching this for four days straight." He held up a notepad, filled with four solid days of notes.

"Whoa," I said. "Maybe you should get some sleep, Danny. If there's no pattern, we don't need you on it 24-7. We'll have somebody else do it."

"No, I'm good," Danny said. "Nothing to worry about."

Fang and Iggy were lurking in the back of the plane.

"So, Aaron's here, huh?" Fang said. "All this time, he's been alive. Wow."

"Yeah," Iggy said. "We just gotta keep away from him."

"I'm really impressed, Iggy," Fang said honestly. "I thought you'd be a lot more pissed off than you are."

"Nah, it's fine," Iggy said. "He was a jerk to Nudge, but we're just ignoring him."

"That's incredible, that you can do that, though, just ignore him," Fang said.

"Oh, come on. I'm just doing the sensible thing here, same as you would. If you saw that punk, going around here… ah, what was the punk's name? Sam! If you saw Sam wandering around here, what would you do?"

"I'd kick the punk's teeth down his throat," Fang said. "That's what I'm saying. I'm glad you handled this better than I would have."

Iggy stepped up to Danny. "Hey, um, Danny, could I have a word? Just let somebody else watch the tower for a second, would you?"

Iggy took Danny by the arm and ushered him out. Albert quickly took up the notes.

I watched the tower blink from one part of the world to another.

"Angel's in that tower," I whispered.

Fang tapped my shoulder. "We'll find her."

He wrapped a comforting arm around me, and gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek. I turned my head, and his next kiss landed on my lips.

We stood there, watching the tower for a few minutes.

"She must be so scared," I said. "What are they _doing_ to her?"

Fang shrugged. "Doesn't matter right now. We'll get her out of there."

Iggy and Danny returned. "Thanks, Dan," Iggy said. "You rock."

"Not a problem," Danny said. "Is there a deadline?"

"No. Whenever you finish is good."

"Oh," Danny said. "Because I can have it done by tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow?" Iggy said. "Really? Okay! Yo, Nudge."

Nudge, helping Max II do her nails in the middle of the plane, looked up. "Yeah?"

Iggy stepped up to her and, one-handed, opened up a tiny velvet box. "Marry me tomorrow?"

"Ooh, okay!" Nudge said. She plucked out the diamond ring and put it on. "Tomorrow sounds great! Does it have my name engraved on it? IT DOES! You're the best, Iggy." She ran up to me and Fang. "Okay, you two are in charge of getting everyone dressed. I've gotta go write my vows!" She ran off, then took to the air.

"Write her vows?" Fang said. "Where's she going for that?"

"Maybe she needs to look up a rhyme for 'jailbait'," I suggested.

"We didn't write _our_ vows," he said.

"That's 'cause you're lazy and boring, babe," I said.

"True story," Iggy supplied.

"You're gonna be a good husband, Ig," I said. "You write your own vows and you don't kick the punk's teeth in. And what are you doing with Danny tomorrow?"

"It's a secret," Iggy said. "But it's gonna be good."

"Yes, it's a secret," Danny agreed. "I'm keeping a lot of those. Like, oh, my grand plan for attacking the Survivors' tower."

"What grand plan?" I demanded.

"It's a secret," Danny said. He oozed off.

"Well, this ought to be good," I said.

"Yep," Fang agreed. "Come on, Max."

"Come on? Where?"

"Nudge put us in charge of clothes," he said.

"What, and we're actually gonna do it?"

"Yes, Max, we are."

"Oh. I didn't know that."


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

"Nudge, do you take Iggy—"

"I do! Now let's get this party started RIGHT!"

I shot confetti out the sleeves of my wedding dress. Iggy and I danced as a wild jazz song came up on the speakers. We danced clear into the sky, and everyone cheered as our lips met high above the wedding arch.

Our first dance as husband and wife… we never touched the ground. We just twirled around in the air.

Iggy had choreographed the flight dance. Isn't he amazing?

After our dance was done, Iggy and I led everybody to our reception—and _that_ was all my doing. Ribbons and flowers and ice sculptures and fountains and… oh, you can't even imagine. It was the best reception ever! And it was mine. Booyah.

Max slid past us, tapping our heads. Fang clapped one hand onto Iggy's shoulder, and shook Iggy's hand with the other. "Congratulations, man," Fang said. "Never been happier for you."

"Thanks, dude," Iggy said.

They considered their positions, then pulled themselves forward into an all-out man-hug. "Thank you," Iggy said again. "Thank you so much."

Fang let go of Iggy and turned to hug me. "Hey, little sister," he said.

"Hi, Fang," I said, tears starting to stream down my face.

"Take care of this bozo for me, all right?"

"Always have. God knows he needs it."

I saw Max II with Imogen. They were keeping their distance, but finally Max II starting pulling Imogen toward us—though the clone was evidently just as reluctant as Imogen was.

"Congrats, guys," Max II said. "This was… this was really nice."

"Hey, I planned all this," I said. "You think I was gonna make Max's wedding better than mine?"

Max II laughed, then gently pushed Imogen forward.

"I… maybe I'm not belongin' here," she said uneasily. "But I wanted to tell ye that I'm happy that… that things like this can happen to people like us. Ye've given me hope for me own future. And thanks to yer leader, I'm startin' to see the future more clearly. But, mostly I… mostly I want to tell ye that I'm happy for ye."

We nodded to her. She and Max II went their separate ways… they seemed comfortable around each other, in a friendly way. I guess Imogen hadn't been too let down.

"Where's Gazzy?" Iggy said. "Isn't everybody supposed to be here? Oh, there he is…"

Far away from where we were standing, Gazzy was dancing to the upbeat music with either Jacqueline or Falon. Whichever twin it was was wearing a tight black dress that didn't even get to her knees. And her dancing was unbelievably erotic.

"Sorry I'm no' dancing any crazier," she said. "But I'm no' wearing a fing under this flimsy lil' dress!" She giggled.

How _could_ she have been dancing any crazier? Even as I watched, her hips were pressed firmly against Gazzy's and twisting madly.

"Oh, God," I said. Gazzy heard me, turned his head, and shrugged. Quite suddenly, the other twin dropped in on them, wearing the exact same dress.

"You're 'ogging 'im again, Jackie!" she howled.

"Again?! Whassat supposed to mean?"

They started slapping each other's hands, continuing to yell at each other, but the fight seemed playful, mischievous. If I had to guess, the purpose of it was to arouse Gazzy. If I had to guess again, it was working. When he looked at me again, he appeared positively horrified.

"Hey, Nudge," Iggy said. "Think anybody'll notice if we ditch for a few minutes?"

"It's _our_ wedding," I said. "So, no, probably not. What's going down?"

"Thought I'd give you my little surprise," he said. "Come on."

We walked past the buffet table, where we were accosted by Airy. "Auntie Nudge, look," she said. "Look, look, quick!"

"What?" I said.

Airy pointed to the buffet table. "Coconuts!" she said happily.

I laughed. "I know about the coconuts, Airy. They were my idea."

"Oh," she said. "Will you help me count the coconuts?"

"Okay," I said. There were four coconuts spread at intervals around the table, and I counted. "One, two, three, four, five." On five, I pointed to Airy.

"I'm not a coconut!" she shrieked.

"I didn't mean you, I meant your pretty little head. So round and fuzzy. It's the most perfect little coconut I've ever seen!"

Airy giggled. "You're silly, Auntie Nudge!" She flew off.

"Anyway," Iggy said. "Onto my surprise…"

Suddenly, in a flash of rainbow sparkles, Keegan and Niles were standing in front of us.

"Oh, hey, you guys," I said. Iggy muttered something under his breath.

"Hi, you two," Keegan said. "I… I don't want to interrupt your surprise, Iggy, but I thought that… that I had something important to say. Would you mind?"

Iggy quite abruptly seemed more relaxed than he had been. "Go ahead, Keegan."

Keegan took a deep breath in. "You lost a baby," she said. "And that saddened you, right? You… wanted one?"

"Yeah," I said. "Yeah, we really did."

"Iggy?"

He nodded, tears brimming in his sightless eyes. "Uh-huh. I wanted a baby."

"Good, then," Keegan said. She got down on her knees, and stared at my belly. "I imagine your child," she said hauntingly. "I imagine a child who is exactly what both of you want, you will bring you immeasurable happiness for the remainder of your lives. A child who will grow up more strong of heart, mind, body, and spirit than both of you together. An amazing child, who will shape the world into something beautiful for years to come."

Iggy's knees trembled. "Oh my God, Keegan, I… thank you! That means so much! You… you really…?

Keegan nodded, then bowed her head. "It's done," she said. "Farewell, my dear friends."

Niles kissed Keegan—that seemed to be all he did nowadays—and they both vanished.

"Oh, Nudge," Iggy said. "Do you realize what she's done?"

"She's blessed us," I said. "She's… she's going to make sure we get the baby that we want. What a wonderful gift for her to give…"

"Beats the hell out of a toaster oven," Iggy muttered.

"Oh, I hope I'll be a good mommy…"

"'Course you will. You're 'silly Auntie Nudge'." He kissed my cheek.

"What's _your_ surprise for me, Iggy?" I said gently.

He sniffled. "I don't know if it'll be worth much after what Keegan gave us, but… but come on, I'll show you."

We wandered off into the trees, until I could barely hear my wedding dance music playing. I guessed that Iggy was trying to ease his own mind, getting away from the crowds.

"All right, Nudge," he said. "Here it is. This is the project I was asking Danny about yesterday."

From his pocket, he produced an electric device shaped like a crown. He put it on his brow and pressed on it hard. It started to crackle, tiny bolts of electricity visibly moving along its surface.

"Whoa, Iggy, is it _supposed_ to do that? That looks dangerous…"

"It's a little bit dangerous," he said. "It's going straight for my brain, but… let's see here…"

As the machine continued to crackle, I saw the muscles around the edges of his eyes twitch madly.

"Iggy, I'm freaking out here—"

"It's okay," he said—now barely audible over the crackling. "Aaaah…"

The machine stopped crackling. It was now humming. A red light, set in the middle like the gemstone of a crown, started glowing. Iggy pointed that light toward me.

"Hmm…" he said. "…Wow."

"Wow, what?" I asked.

"It's… it's true."

"What's true?"

"What everybody's always talking about."

I scowled. He was messing with me. "What's everybody always talking about?" I demanded.

"That you're beautiful beyond description," he said.

I thought about that. I looked into his eyes, pointed down to the ground… then to the electric circlet, pointed straight toward me.

"Holy shit-balls, you can see me?" I demanded.

"I sure can," he said. "Oh, baby, it's true, you are _so_ gorgeous… ah, I can hardly stand it."

"Iggy," I said, starting to stammer. "What—what _is_ this? How is it…?"

"Danny made this for me," he said. "I wanted to be able to see… just temporarily. So I could see _you_ on our wedding day. When I take the circlet off, I'll be blind again. You know, because… that's the only way I know how to work, and in our always-unstable way of life, it's preferable to stick to what we know. There'll never be time for me to learn how to do everything with a whole extra sense. But, yeah, I figured that if it was at all possible, I wouldn't mind one peek at you, baby. And… ah, God, it's… so worth it."

My lip quivered, and the tears started coming back. "Oh, Iggy, that's amazing," I sobbed. "But… oh, this can't just be for me! You need to see everybody else, too! Come on, let's go back to our wedding and—"

"No," he interrupted. "Maybe tomorrow. Tonight I just want to stare at you. A lot."

I smiled through my tears. "That's… that's so sweet. Ooh, you know what? You need to see yourself! I'll get a mirror."

"I don't need to—"

"You do, Iggy. If tonight is about you and me, you ought to see _you_ as well. You're at least as beautiful as I am."

"Somehow, that's not reassuring."

"Oh, come on…"

I started walking away, and he followed me, but stumbled almost immediately.

"Ach!" he said. "Damn sight. Kind of overpowers everything else, don't it?"

"I guess so," I said. "Here, hold my hand and we'll fly. I just want you to look in a mirror for a second."

I flew with him, until we got to our spot in the field and I picked out a hand mirror. I gave it to him, though it took him a few tries to get his hand in the right place to grasp the handle. He turned it toward himself.

"Hmm," he said. "Wow, my eyes are really blue."

"You didn't know that?"

"I knew they were blue, I didn't know they were _that_ blue. I've never touched my eyes." He dropped the mirror. "I like looking at you better."

I smiled, waving at him.

"I'm gonna take the thing off as soon as we start our honeymoon," he said. "It'll be best that way. But, for now, I _really_ like just looking at you."

I giggled, feeling shy for one of the first times in my life. "I… I like seeing you look at me," I said. "I like how amazed you look."

"I am amazed," he said. "Ah, I really should stop, I took enough risks wearing it while flying…" He pulled it off his head, and the red light went out.

"I hope that someday you can see again, Iggy," I said. "Someday when there's peace and… and…" I was at a loss for words. How often does that happen? "Well, anyway, Iggy, I hope that even without the thing you can see how much I love you."

"Yeah, I'll say I can," he replied. "Do you see it on me?"

"Every day," I said. "Right there in your eyes, there's all your love for me."

"Cool," he said. "Anyway, we've got a reception to get back to. Our wedding reception… _ours_. I like the sound of that, ours."

"Everything is ours now," I agreed in a whisper. He took my hand—perfectly this time—and we flew back to the reception.


	35. Chapter 35

**Hi, I just had to clear the air and get this out of the way. Don't judge me—just had to get this off my chest.**

**Here's the lowdown: I can't stand Total. I completely hate him. He's my personal Jar Jar Binks. He should never have existed. Or, better yet, if he had been dropped and never found again **_**before**_** he started talking, that would have been great. See, if that happened, then he would be a sympathetic character, but after that, not a chance.**

**And that's why he remained largely out-of-the-way for the first 90 chapters of my fanfic, and finally got killed off. But, you know, I think that up until this point I've been fairly respectful to him, don't you think? But maybe it was the respect that is now causing me to vent my **_**true**_** feelings and chase away my precious few fans. So, I'm just asking you to keep an open mind. **

**You know, some people think the villains of the series are diminishing in quality, some people think TFW was preachy, some people think the characters are bland and forgettable. For myself, I think the whole series is perfection up until that friggin' dog. Anyway, this author's note is getting too long, mesa thinks. On to the rest of the story…**

**Chapter 35**

Fang stroked my hair. I don't see how that could have done anything for him; my hair isn't all that attractive. But I suppose it was the principle of the thing. Closeness, you know.

We were on a grassy knoll, watching Ray and Ram fence with each other. They were really something to watch. Ram's eleven-foot height and refined mountain-goat muscles provided him with some great swinging power and nimble dodges, while Ray seemed to turn the entire thing into a dance; gripping his rapier and dagger in the curled tips of his wings, he balanced himself upright on the base of his tail (kind of hard to describe unless you've seen it) and twirled elegantly.

"You're both very good at that," Dr. Akana commented.

"Thanks," Ram said.

"We _do_ take some pride in it," Ray said.

"It's all we got, really."

"We can't play video games like we used to."

"Yeah. No hands."

"Little bit of a downside."

Noelani seemed a bit thrown off. "You, um… you speak in turn… you seem pretty connected, how is that?"

"Well, we're identical twins," Ray said.

"Can't ya tell?" Ram said, beaming.

"Um…" Dr. Akana muttered.

"Oh, we're kidding," Ram said. He whipped a photograph out of his pocket. "Here's us twelve years ago. Laren and Noah Janicke."

Akana looked at the photo and smiled. "Well, it's good that you have spirit in spite of what's happened to you… it's so sad. Do you think there will ever be a cure for you?"

"A cure?" Ram repeated. "A cure for what? Being awesome?"

"We don't _want_ to be human again," Ray added. "I'm Ray, this is my brother Ram, and that's the way uh-huh uh-huh we like it."

Dr. Akana turned back to me, to find me scowling. "What is it, Max?"

"You ask _them_ if they can be cured of their mutations?" I said. "Nobody ever asked _us_ about that."

"Oh. Well, um, you're… you're…"

"We're what, pretty? We're still mutants. If you've got something that woulda worked on Ray and Ram, why don't you fill me in?"

Dr. Akana scuffed the ground with her heel. "I don't. I'm not… that kind of a scientist. I was just… just… I'm sorry. I didn't realize…"

"Relax," I said. "I'm just saying—show some sensitivity. Maybe we'd all like to be normal people."

"And…" Akana stammered. "And would you?"

"Nah," I said. I caressed Fang's face over my head. "Provided my family was safe, I wouldn't trade the joy of flying for _anything_."

Fang kissed my hair. "You wanna fly?"

"Let's go fly," I said.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Fang and I twirled around in the sky, and were soon joined by the rest of the flock.

"You know, when we're flying around up here I kind of get a sense of what Keegan says about us," Fang said.

"What part?" I asked.

"That we're all… gods. You know, we fly all the time, and I've forgotten what it's like to _not_ be able to fly, but… but sometimes, when we're waaaaay up there, I really do feel powerful. Special."

I looked at my own hands. Strong and lithe and beautiful… my entire self was like that. "We _are_ powerful and special," I said. "It can be enjoyable sometimes."

The two of us settled back to the ground where Ray and Ram were. Dr. Akana had scrammed, probably figuring that she'd filled her daily "mutant faux pas" quota. The flock touched down along with us, and we all huddled together tightly, like penguins protecting each other from the cold. There was just a lot of love here.

"Hey, Max, want me to do your hair?" Nudge said, tugging on it.

"Sure," I said. "Braid me."

She got behind me and started playing with my hair.

"Two braids or one?" she asked.

"One," I said.

"Excellent," she muttered.

"Gaz, what's the matter?" Fang said unexpectedly.

"Nothin'," Gazzy replied, in way that clearly meant "somethin'".

I turned to him. He was staring at me, with that look he sometimes had, when he was deathly afraid of losing me.

"I'm not going anywhere, buddy," I said cautiously.

"I know," he mumbled. "But maybe I'm going somewhere."

"What?" I demanded.

"The chippies!" Nudge said darkly. "Have they been talking to you about going off someplace? Gazzy, you're letting those twins get to you, with their pretty green eyes and their big boobs. Maybe you shouldn't hang out with them anymore…"

"You have no clue what you're talking about," Gazzy said.

"Gazzy—ow—did you—ow!" I had tried to stand up, but Nudge had a death-grip on my hair and was frozen in shock. On my third try, she finally let go and I got to my feet. "Gazzy, you haven't been sleeping with one of those twerps, have you?" I demanded.

"No," he said hastily. "No, no, no, no, no…" He looked around nervously, and muttered, "Both of them."

"Whoa!" Ram said from a few feet away. "Ha-ha-ha! Nice, Gazzy! Like I said before, there's no cure for being awesome."

I glared at them. "That is _not_ the correct response to that, you guys."

"Oh, come on," Ray said. "Dude's first time, and it's a threesome? That's a pretty good accomplishment."

"No it's not," I snarled. "Come on, you two are brothers. How would you like to be involved in the same sexual encounter?"

Ray and Ram paused, then looked at each other. "Evidently, not as much as Falon and Jacqueline would," Ram finally said. They both broke out into laughter.

I rolled my eyes and glared at Gazzy. "I can't believe you'd do that, Gazzy. I thought you had respect for… and… oh, God, you're twelve! This is sick!"

"Twelve?" Gazzy said. "That's older than Nudge was when she started sleeping with Iggy."

"Hey, I don't think I'd have approved of _that_, either," I said.

Gazzy raised his eyebrows. "Well, then?" The way he stared at me, I got was he was saying. I hadn't been there for Iggy and Nudge. I saw that in his mind, I still owed him for my departure and three-year absence.

I wasn't going to let that derail me. "Be that as it may, look at them. Iggy and Nudge are married now. They always had the potential for a future. What kind of future can you have with _both_ of them?"

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?" Gazzy shouted suddenly. "DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW WHAT I'VE DONE? I COULDN'T KEEP THEM AWAY! THEY NEVER LET ME SAY A WORD! THE WHOLE TIME, I WAS THINKING, THIS IS WRONG, MAKE IT STOP!" He buried his face in his hands, and his voice came out quiet, crackled. "But I couldn't… I couldn't because _they_… they seemed to know exactly how to get me to want them… and they made it seem like it wasn't the wrong thing…"

"They seduced him," Iggy concluded.

Gazzy pointed a finger at Iggy, still keeping himself curled up. "Seduced, thank you. That's the word I was looking for."

I uneasily sat back down and rubbed his back. "I'm sorry, Gazzy," I said. "For yelling at you, and… and for this."

"It's okay," he muttered. He finally looked up, tears streaming down his face. "I… I don't know what's going on, where I'm going. I feel like I've destroyed myself… I don't know who 'myself' is anymore." He looked up into the sky. "I hate them," he growled. "I hate them!" He looked around furiously, and cupped his hands over his face again. "WHERE'S MY SISTER?" he screeched.

Continuing to rub his back, I turned to see what he'd been looking at in the sky. There was Imogen and her flock, flying in their flawless diamond-head formation.

I wondered about them. I really, really had to wonder.

Immy seemed pretty nice. She had a good heart, a zest for life. She was the kind of person who might have my back on any given day, someone who I could absolutely hang out with. But the other three… the other three, I just had to wonder, what the hell was their deal?


	36. Chapter 36

**Okay, bear with me on this chapter. I had a concept, and I was running with it, and maybe it got a bit too risqué. Forgive me.**

**Chapter 36**

There it was—the moment. I prepared for the ecstasy to wash over me, the pure joy…

But once I got there, the scene around me changed. I was no longer in a grassy clearing with Fang, but a spacious black void. Angel stood in front of me, and muttered "help me" in the most pitiful voice I had ever heard.

I collapsed onto Fang's chest, heaving with terror.

"Max?" he muttered. "Are you okay?"

I nodded uneasily.

"You've never done that before. Did I do something wrong? What'd I do?"

"Nothing, nothing," I said, waving my hand. "It was… it's just… we need to get the flock together. I need to talk to everybody."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"I saw Angel," I told them. "It was different from before. I only saw her for a second, but she was terrified. She wants us to help her now. We… God, we've been sitting by idly doing nothing! We need to start taking some action."

"How could you have seen Angel?" Iggy asked.

"Um… what?"

"How'd this vision come to you?" he clarified. "I thought it was only when you were dreaming."

I looked around nervously. I'd been hoping to avoid that, but now it seemed everybody wanted to know. "The vision came when I, um… uh… we were making love."

Nudge tried, and failed miserably, to suppress an amused snort.

"It's not funny!" I said. "Look, that's how it works—when Angel contacts people with her mind, it's a real strain on her, very tiring. For what she's doing now, I think she can only contact _me_, since I'm the mind she's most familiar with, and then only when my mind is otherwise paused, like during REM sleep, or, evidently… you know, orgasm." I looked around at them. "Okay, it's sort of funny. You can make fun of me after we rescue her, but not until then! Don't you get it? For me to have seen her at that exact moment, she's probably searching for me _constantly_! Whatever the Survivors are doing to her, she's more scared than I've ever seen her. She asked me to help her. Come on, we all know Angel never does that. We have to save her."

Fang gripped my shoulder. "Max, there's nothing we can do. The tower still moves around. We'll _never_ find it."

I clenched my fists. "This can't be happening…"

"And we're not being passive," Nudge supplied. "Danny is still tracking the tower. When the moment comes, he'll… well, he has some kind of plan, I guess."

I looked at the sun. Still high in the sky, and I wasn't tired at all. Sleep couldn't come soon enough. I needed to find out exactly what was happening to Angel.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

That night, I plopped down onto my pillow. My eyelids were heavy, but I couldn't get to sleep. I had to sleep, damn it…

It must have been an hour, with my eyes shut and my body perfectly motionless, trying like hell to just hit the sack, before I finally found myself in the blackness with Angel once again.

"Oh, thank goodness," she muttered. "When I only saw you for a split second, I thought maybe my powers were… running out…"

"Don't worry about it, Angel," I said. "What's your status?"

"My… my status…?" she said blankly. "Well, things aren't really… going well for me. Once they realized that I'd never, ever join them no matter what, they started… torturing me. At first I thought they were waiting for me to snap and switch sides, but now I figure it's all just for the fun of it."

"Oh my God, Angel. Tell me what they're doing!"

"They keep me locked up," she muttered. "I haven't had anything to eat for… for… I have no clue how long. There aren't any windows, no way for me to see the time… they keep my jaw locked shut, so I can't speak or eat or even scream… and I'm all covered in dirt, and…"

"Really? You look fine," I said.

She stared at me like I was an idiot. "This isn't really me, Max. You're looking at a dream vision. Like I _want_ to put the effort into projecting an image of what I really look like right now."

"Sorry, sorry," I muttered. "But… the torture, then. Why would they torture you?"

"Because they can, I suppose," Angel said. "They've got this humongous mutant who's the torturer." An image flashed through my mind, overlapping the specter of Angel. The image she showed me was of a guy, about eight feet tall, with stone-gray skin and bulging muscles. And I mean _muscles_. The breadth of his shoulders was within an inch of his height. His biceps were wider than Airy was tall.

"Ugh," I sneered. "Get rid of it!"

He vanished, and I saw Angel again. "Can't get rid of him for _me_," she said solemnly.

"Cripes, if there was any doubt that my dear sweet mother the Director was involved," I murmured. "What does this guy do to you?"

She shrugged. "Knives. Fire. Poison. I don't want to talk about it. He'll haunt me forever, even if you can save me…"

"If?" I demanded. "There's no if about this, Angel. We're coming to save you."

Angel vanished and I promptly jerked awake.

"Just as soon as we figure out how the hell to find you," I muttered feebly.


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

"Here it is, Max," Danny said. "My deadliest weapon: the BRB."

It didn't look very deadly. It was a simple black box with a red circle on the top. "Big Red Button?" I guessed.

"That's right," Danny said. "My plan has been unfurled." He gestured to his computer display, which had been wheeled out into the field. "We simply wait for the Survivors' base to move to a convenient location—anything within the BRB's range should suffice—then we press the Big Red Button and… well, it's a surprise." He turned to his cohorts. "Who wants to push the Big Red Button?"

"Let's all do it together," Ram said. "The five of us. Like old times."

Danny's eyes sparkled. "Yes, let's."

Danny put the BRB down on the ground, and the five surviving members of the ICBG gathered around it. Ram gently placed his hoof atop it… then Ray's wing, Albert's webbed foot, Danny's tentacle. Finally, Felicia rested her chin on top of the stack.

And they watched. I didn't know what qualified as within the BRB's range, but the determination on their five animal faces was beyond inspiring.

The tower continued to blip around the world. It stayed in every location for exactly eight seconds—that was the only pattern that anyone had been able to figure out. Finally, it appeared in England—right across from the whatever-the-hell-you-call-it from our base in Ireland.

"We'll never get a better opportunity than that," Danny said. "Go!"

All five of them pressed down on the button, yelling "KA-BOOM!"

And ka-boom it did. As soon as the button was pushed, hundreds and hundreds of missiles appeared out of nowhere and started flying to the east at an impossible speed. About half of them were powder-blue, the other half spring-green. That was all I registered before they all vanished. Then I saw them on the computer display.

The blue ones were shaped like geckos, the green ones like tree frogs—tributes to Laura Kris and the Big Guy. The ICBG truly was reunited.

I watched the tower. The missiles started to bombard it. I was about to shriek—they were about to blow up a building that Angel was in!—but the missiles crashed and disintegrated around a force field, that crackled with red electricity every time a missile hit.

After a while, the shield gave out, and the missiles were hitting the tower instead. But they weren't destroying it… all of them were hitting a very specific part of the tower. What could that mean?

Finally, all of the missiles were depleted. Danny stared at the display, breathing heavily. I wondered what had been accomplished. I waited for someone to tell me.

But then I figured it out… the tower hadn't moved. It had been over eight seconds, and it hadn't zipped off to some other part of the world. It was right there, within a day's flying distance for us, and it wasn't going anywhere.

"The tower is disabled," Danny said with satisfaction. "Now we can get 'em."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

John Abate gathered the entire CSM to discuss the plan of attack.

"It won't take long for them to repair," he said. "So we're best off sending a small party quickly, as we won't have time to mobilize troops."

"The flock is a small party," I said innocently.

He looked at me, surprised. "Max, you can't…"

"Yeah, I can," I said. "Lighten up, John. I think we both know I was gonna charge off no matter what you eventually decided. It's good that we're meeting halfway! See you around." I whipped on a backpack. We'd already packed.

"Max, it's not necessary—" John began.

"John, I'm beggin' ya, don't pursue a lost cause," I said. "People have been trying to control me for eighteen years, it's never happened once."

"You don't know what you're—"

"Don't I?" I said, nearly shouting him down. "Why don't you look me in the eye and say that? I _know_ what I'm doing. Look, you've got a lot of scientists, inventors, economists, mercenaries, veterans, and so on…"

"AND MISTA T!" bellowed a deep voice in the crowd.

"Of course," I said, nodding in the general direction of the shout. "But how many of those people _really_ know what's out there? That's where the flock comes in. We're out."

I hopped off, bouncing lightly off the heads of the crowd before flapping to the borders of the CSM base, where I touched the ground. Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Max II settled down right behind me.

"Are we ready?" I asked them.

Iggy tightened the straps of his pack. "It doesn't get any readier than this," he said.

"Good," I said. I jerked in surprise when Imogen dropped down in front of me, and her three followers behind her.

"You coming, Immy?" I said.

"Aye," she said. "I must."

"Great," Fang said. "This fits in perfectly with our plan. Now we can have Sean be the bait, draw their fire, while the rest of us sneak in the back."

Sean raised an eyebrow. "Ooh, I don't like that idea much. How about we send Fang in, guns blazin', and the rest of us give him an hour's head-start?"

"How about you suicide-bomb the place?" Fang countered.

Sean raised two fists. "How about I crush yer head between me fists?"

"How about I break your skinny little arms?" Fang snarled.

"Boys, stop it!" Imogen snapped. "Stop it now! We need to get along!"

"I don't know if that's possible," I said honestly.

"Well, I'm comin' along for this, no matter what," she said. "Ye were right, Maximum Ride. About havin' to know what's out there. I want to know what the real world is like. I _need_ to. I've never been in a fight. I've never seen what truly evil people can do. I've never even been off of Ireland."

I sighed. "Look, the flock and I resigned ourselves to all of this long ago, but I don't want to drag somebody else into it. Are you sure this is what you want, Imogen?"

She nodded. "I've got these wings for a reason. I'm gonna use 'em and find out what me purpose truly is."

I gripped her hand tightly. "Welcome aboard, then, comrade. Let's go."

"MOMMEEEEEEEEEE!"

I spun around. Airy was rushing toward me, going sixty miles an hour with her body barely an inch above the ground. A car was pursuing her, but couldn't possibly catch up.

She hit me as hard as one of the Big-Guy-shaped missiles and hugged me tight. "Don't go without me, Mommy," she begged.

I laughed. "I know, I know. I'll miss you, too, Airy, but we'll be back as soon as we save your Auntie Angel, okay?"

The car pulled up; Mom, Brigid, and Ella came out and approached.

Airy dropped to the ground and crossed her arms, glaring up at me. "I wanna come too," she said firmly.

"Oh," I stammered. "I didn't… no!"

"Yes," she countered instantly.

"Airy," I said sternly.

"Mommy!" she shrieked, stomping her foot. "I'm part of the flock. I'm your daughter. I'm special. I'm Airy. I'm gonna help get Auntie Angel back home."

I was alarmed. I looked up and Mom, Brigid, and Ella, who seemed just as taken aback as I was. They knew they couldn't tear Airy away. I then turned to Fang, and he laughed aloud.

"What do you want from _me_?" he demanded. He tapped Airy's head. "I can't turn Airy down when she looks exactly like you."

I looked down at her. "I don't know. With that evil scowl, she looks more like her Auntie Angel, actually."

Fang smirked at me. "And where do you think Angel got _her_ dirty looks from?" Before I could retaliate, he started walking toward the three people at the car.

"Well, I guess you're coming, then, aren't you Airy?" I said.

Airy hugged me tight, her anger completely gone.

"He can't turn her down because she looks exactly like you," Max II mused. "I'm gonna have to remember that and use it against him, huh?"

"Yeah, that'd be great payback, actually," I admitted.

I looked at Fang. He was bidding farewell to Brigid…

"I'll miss you," she said quietly.

"I'll be back," he promised. "I'll be back for _you_. You're the only thing bringing me back."

She nodded, her eyes welling up. "I love you, Fang."

He sniffled, almost imperceptibly. "I love you too, Brigid. Take care of yourself, okay?" He hugged her. "I won't let anything happen to you," he said quietly. "Things have been pretty fucked-up between us, I know, but… I hope you know that you're like my daughter."

He extracted himself from her hug with some difficulty, and marched himself back to the rest of the group. "Let's go," he said.

We took to the air. We ran a couple of laps around the base to get the proper altitude. I stared at Fang the whole time.

"Hey," he said, noticing. "Listen, Max, if you're not comfortable with what's going on with me and Brigid…"

"No, no, it's fine," I said. "I… maybe I don't understand it, but it's _you_. So of course I support it."

He smiled. "Well, then, the least I can do is help you understand it. What do you want to know?"

I thought. "Well… I don't know. I just don't get it. I mean, you already _have_ a daughter."

"Yes, I do," he said happily, looking at Airy, who was keeping perfect pace with the rest of the flock. "Of course Airy is my only _real_ child, but she doesn't… I don't know… _need_ me, the way Brigid does. Airy can take care of herself—everybody I love can take care of themselves. But not Brigid. She needs me to look after her. And I… I guess I like the feeling of being needed."

I flew underneath him and reached for both of his hands. He took them. "_I_ need you," I reminded him.

He nodded. His face didn't move, but I knew what he was feeling—uncontained, bountiful, endless happiness. I knew because I felt it too.

Finally, we broke off from our circling and headed straight east, straight toward the Survivors' domain. From below, I heard a rumbling sound… the CSM were applauding us. Right on.

"Let's book it, everybody," I called. "We've got a ten-year-old kid to save."

"And a planet," Nudge offered.

"Right, sure. That too."


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

In no time, we were over the Irish Sea (yeah, I looked it up, turns out it's just a sea, nothing fancy). We would be across before the sun went down, and by the time darkness fell, we'd be right on top of the Survivors.

I tried to keep a good head count. There were eleven of us flying, and I took it upon myself to make sure nobody fell behind.

Airy glided easily. Not a bad life of hers, all things considered. I wasn't permitted to fly when I was three. And _nobody_ could fly as well as Airy could. Sure, there were moves she didn't know, but I had a feeling that she could learn them instantly.

While most of us were gliding on the wind, Imogen's giant bat wings were beating rapidly. I counted the up-and-down cycles; she was flapping twice per second. She was sixteen years old, I pondered. That would qualify her as a major success. She and her flock were too similar to us to have been made by somebody else… what _was_ her purpose?

"Hey, Immy," I said. "You don't have to beat your wings like that. We've got a nice east wind blowing us the right way."

Imogen watched me glide and tried to imitate it, but rapidly began to drop. "I can't do it, Max," she said.

I stared. "I don't know how you can flap like that and not get tired," I said.

"I don't know how all these bird people can keep their wings so _still_," she replied.

I shot her a gun-hand. "I can last as long as you can, dude."

She returned with the peace sign. "Likewise, me friend."

I scanned the rest of the group. Below me, Fang and Sean were still swapping threats, but there seemed to be no real anger there anymore. As far as I could tell, it had become a game between the two of them, both of them trying to come up with the more disturbing image. If that was the case, I had no clue who was winning.

"How about I sever your hamstrings and cut out your liver with my letter opener?" Fang was saying.

"How about I smash yer skull with yer own foot?" Sean replied.

"How about I send you to a taxidermist, have you mounted in the corner?" Fang suggested.

"How about I cut yer throat with me shaving razor?"

"You shave?" Fang mocked.

Sean gave him the finger. "Keep goin'," he growled.

"Mmmmmmkay," Fang said thoughtfully. "How about I saw off your feet and leave you in the middle of a forest?"

"How about I cut out yer eyes and yer balls, and put yer eyes in yer ball sack and yer balls in yer eye holes."

Fang laughed. "_The Pick of Destiny_!" he said.

"Yeah!" Sean said, delighted. "You know the D?"

"I love the D," Fang said.

The two of them sang together: "_I love ya baby, but all I can think about is—kielbasa sausage, your butt-cheeks is warm. I check my dipstick, you need lubrication honey, my kielbasa sausage has just got to perform. Now get it on!_"

"What the hell is that?" I demanded.

Sean looked up at me and smirked. "That's Tenacious D," he said.

"My turn?" Fang said.

"I believe so," Sean said.

"Okay… how about I put you in a sack filled with rocks and dump you into a lake."

"How about I chop ye up into little pieces, _then_ put ye in a sack of rocks and dump ye into a lake."

Fang laughed. "Nice! Okay, how about I chop you up in little pieces and use them as fishing bait."

"How about I chop ye up in little pieces… and put 'em in a pot of chili and feed it to yer flock."

"Hmm, let's see… Okay, I chop you up into little pieces—"

"Oh, God, enough!" I snapped. "Where are you guys _getting_ this emo crap?"

They shrugged. Well, emo crap or no, at least they were bonding.

I saw Gazzy next. He was staring straight ahead, looking grim and determined. I hated seeing him like that. I needed my cheerful little boy back.

I confronted Jacqueline and Falon. Gazzy was deliberately flying as far away from them as possible, so I was certain he wouldn't overhear.

"I hope you two know what you've done to him," I said.

"Yeah? And whassat?" one of them said casually. That one was wearing blue, the other black.

I gripped the backs of their necks. "Gazzy is a nice kid," I said. "Okay? He did _not_ enjoy being seduced. Now you've left him feeling weak and abused."

"Well, sorry," the one in blue said sarcastically. "We 'ad no idea. We're terrible people. Ligh'en up, would you, Max? We jus' 'ad sex. Our firs' time, 'is firs' time, and we're free to go. It's fair. No big deal."

I stammered. I was certain I had never heard such an evil statement in my entire life. The School, the Itex Corporation, the Director, the Uber-Director, Mr. Chu, Jewel, it was as if all of them were erased from my memory by the words of whichever twin that was.

When I finally managed to speak, it was through gritted teeth. "Just… sex?" I growled. "No big deal? What kind of person are you?"

The bitch-in-blue rolled her eyes and veered off. I couldn't comprehend that. Sex had become a routine part of my life, but no matter how many times Fang and I did it, I felt like it would always be special, that there could never possibly be such a thing as "just" sex…

I turned to the twin wearing black. "And you?" I growled.

She scoffed. "I'm no' gonna lie to you, Max. Me and Jacqueline, we're the same. Bad girls. Always 'ave been."

"That would make you Falon, then?" I said, just to be sure.

"Uh-huh. Anyway, Jackie and I fink alike, we come to mos' fings mu'ually…"

"Sorry, what was that last word?" I interrupted.

She paused. "Mutually," she said.

"Oh. Right, go on."

"Yeah. And I'm no' gonna deny, I 'ad one 'ell of a good time seducing Gazzy. Bu' now… now I fink maybe me and my twin 'ave reached a poin' of con'ention."

I stared. "You and your twin have released the what?"

She rolled her eyes. "Reached a point of contention," she said slowly and clearly. It was jolting to hear her speak that way. You'd swear she'd spent her entire life in Nebraska.

"There, see now, why don't you just talk like that all the time?" I demanded.

"This is my na'ural voice!" she said. "I'm no' gonna pu' on an accent jus' so I can be understood."

"I'm saying, it'd make things easier."

"I tell you wha', you try bein' Irish for a full day, and maybe I'll fink about tryin' to sound American when you're around."

"Okay, okay, point taken."

"Wha' I'm tryin' to say, Max, is that… well, I fort 'e was enjoying 'imself as much as we were, and now I see I'm wrong, I… I _am_ very sorry." She shrugged. "I don' know why Jacqueline doesn' feel tha' way. We always agree…"

"Well, hey, don't apologize to _me_," I said. "Gazzy's the one you should be talking to."

Falon turned her head to look at Gazzy, at the exact opposite end of our loosely-defined formation. She slowly edged across the breadth toward him, but as soon as she was near, Gazzy swooped downwards rapidly and came back into the formation next to me.

"Gazzy," I said. "She was trying to—"

"I know, Max, I heard," he said. "I don't care. I'm not taking any apologies."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Just as I'd predicted, we reached the island of Britain at around sundown.

"Any minute now, guys," I said.

Iggy scooped up Nudge in his arms; she stopped flying and they began to make out on the fly. I didn't judge them quite so much anymore. They had their version of savoring the moment… sometimes I almost wished I had the courage to be as wild as they were.

As it was, I only reached for Fang's hand, and planted a small kiss on his lips before resuming the flight. We were there.

Looming up ahead of us was a tower made of black stone. It fit perfectly into the English countryside, like one of the ancient castle ruins.

But this one was brand-new. And filled to the brim with the most evil people existing in the world today.

"Let's go for it," I said.


	39. Chapter 39

**Hi. I'm sure nobody will notice this at all, but I thought I might as well give the readers a glimpse into my mind. I've decided that Lang and Shey are brother and sister—even though I established them in a late chapter of "In My Absence" as having different surnames. I'm just going to cheat around that, however. So, just keep that in mind, that from this point on I'm writing them as siblings, and that they both have the surname Liu. I just figured it's the only explanation for why they get along as well as they do, and why Shey never flirts with him. But again, I doubt anybody would have cared if I hadn't brought it up, so… anyway.**

**Chapter 39**

The first thing that happened? Well, remember that perfect formation that Sean, Jacqueline, and Falon fly in? The one I envied so much the first time I saw them? Well, that proved to be their doom, and, as I still didn't like them much at that point, that made me feel pretty good.

Someone in the tower shot a wide-open net toward us. My flock had the sense to scatter, but Immy's kept together, and all three of them got caught.

Immy grabbed the net as it started to fall, flapping her wings frantically, but she wasn't strong enough—she fell along with them. Max II grabbed the net, halting the fall instantly. She turned back to me, evidently upset by the revelation that her hero had no muscle, but she helped Immy lower her flock down to the ground.

"We've got to get them free!" Imogen yelled.

"No time," Max II said. "We have to strike at the building quickly…"

"I can't leave me flock!" Imogen shrieked.

"Well, I'm not leaving mine," Max II retorted.

They stared each other down, then their looks changed to mutual admiration and affection. They exchanged quick pecks on the cheek before Max II ran over to join the rest of us.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

We were barely inside the building when we all turned to stone.

That's what it felt like. I could see, hear, breathe, and think… I could move my head. But I felt nothing from the neck down, and when I looked, it was truly as if my body had been coated in concrete.

Though we had all been flying, we didn't fall when we were frozen. We just floated there.

Lao Hu, Jewel's alleged girlfriend, stepped forward. "Hello," she said.

"Sup?" I replied. Not one of my coolest comebacks, but I think it was up there.

She was holding some kind of wand, aimed toward all of us. As she began to walk backward, we were pulled along with her.

"Where are you taking us, Lao Hu?" I asked.

"Miss Janssen wants to see you," she said. "Your missile attack severely wounded our force field and teleporter, but only temporarily."

"Say, listen, is it true you're, like… dating Jewel?"

She grinned dreamily. "Jewel is the love of my life. He tells me that I've changed him in many good ways… and he has likewise changed me."

I had no idea what to think of that.

"Kinky," Nudge offered.

"That's what I've been saying," said a high voice behind me. I looked as far over my shoulder as I could, and caught a glimpse of Lang and Shey, laughing at their own jokes as they always seemed to do.

Stretching further, I saw three familiar rolls of used toilet paper marching behind us. A tall guy with oily black hair, his Afro-headed little brother, and their graying uncle.

"Hey, it's the scum of the earth," I said.

"Grease," the tall guy corrected.

"I know your _name_, I'm just saying that you're the scum of the earth."

Grease scowled at me. Evidently, I wasn't forgiven for cheating him out of Jewel's money—he never _had_ cared that he would have died before being able to spend it.

"Ow!" Fang said suddenly. I turned, and I saw that Lang had ripped out a large chunk of his hair.

"Nice," Lang said. He showed Fang the handful of his hair. "You know, you gotta use the hairs with little bits of skin on the end. That's where the DNA is."

"I know," Fang said coldly. "What do you want with my DNA?"

Lang shrugged. "I'm just sayin'."

Lang and Shey were both wielding wands similar to Lao Hu's. Shey pressed a button on hers, and suddenly Fang's arm was moving freely. Shey whipped out a syringe, and Fang cried out in shock. I reflexively looked away, hating myself for not getting over my childhood fears. I heard a light sucking sound, and Fang growling in pain and fury.

"Nice," Shey said happily. I uneasily turned back to her, and saw that her syringe was filled with Fang's blood.

"Very nice," Lang agreed. "Now for some feathers."

"Naturally," Shey said. Fang's arm went back to its stone state, and one of his huge black wings was freed instead. Lang tugged out a chunk of his primary feathers. Fang groaned.

"What _are_ you two doing?" Lao Hu demanded from the front of the party.

"Just a little science experiment!" Shey replied. "Yo, Lang. How about teeth?"

Lang grinned evilly. "That is an excellent idea."

Lang and Shey both whipped out pairs of tweezers and went for Fang's mouth.

"Don't you dare," Fang sneered.

They pried his mouth open and took turns pulling out his teeth. They each took three, and clearly didn't care at all which teeth they took.

"Listen," Fang said. "When it comes to a fight, nobody kill these two. _I_ want to."

I looked at him with dread. He was baring his teeth furiously, and that image was made all the more terrifying by the random six that were missing.

Lao Hu led us to a circular room lined all around with doors.

"Oh, good, the Survivors are hippie villains," Nudge said.

The design of the room was rather liberal; just a mess of futons and circular chairs, beanbag chairs and colorful rugs… but in the center of the room was the very, very pole-up-the-ass Marian Janssen. She didn't belong here… but of course, she didn't belong anyplace that didn't employ the frequent use of brimstone and pitchforks.

"Hello, Maximum Ride," Janssen said.

"Is that the middle-aged mutant ninja turtle?" Iggy inquired.

Janssen's lip tightened, if that was even possible.

Lang laughed. "Ninja turtle? What's that supposed to mean?"

"I… I've been grafted with the DNA of a Galapagos giant tortoise," Janssen replied, rolling her eyes. "The flock here… well, their sense of humor is no more advanced than anything else about them. They find it amusing."

"A tortoise?" Lang said. "What the hell does that do for you?"

"Longevity, for starters," Janssen replied. "I'm a hundred and eleven."

"Really?" Shey said. "Impressive. I wouldn't have put you at anything over a hundred and nine."

I turned to glare at Shey. "That was _my_ joke."

She shrugged. "Sorry."

One of the doors in the room opened, and Jewel stepped out.

"Look, Jewel," Janssen called. "Longtime foes of yours, correct?"

Jewel's glittery diamond eyes surveyed us—evidently he'd gotten the one that Jeb had smashed replaced. "I don't care," he said.

Jewel plucked a CD off the rack, blew Lao Hu a kiss, and returned to his room, shutting the door behind him.

Janssen frowned. "Not what I expected from Jewel," she muttered.

A lithe figure appeared out of nowhere next to Janssen. "Let _me_ kill them, Mommy," she hissed.

It was Kellie. Kellie was under personal orders from Janssen—and _that_ made Janssen my enemy. Never mind that she tried to halve the human race—the bitch killed our dog.

"Not yet, sweetheart," Janssen said, holding her back.

"Mommy, huh?" I said. "Is this your new Omega?"

"Omega?" Janssen repeated. She laughed powerfully. "Kellie—my dearest, sweetest Kellie—makes Omega look as insignificant and primitive as… well, you."

"Wow," I said. "Not trying to spare my feelings, huh? Keeping my expectations realistic. That's good parenting."

Janssen ignored me. "Kellie," she said. "Is the most magnificent creature in the world. As you witnessed a few weeks ago, she can alter her physical appearance. In addition, she is venomous, can give out a keen that can render any creature stunned, and can hypnotize with a single glance. She possesses unparalleled strength, speed, agility…"

"Aggression?" Iggy asked.

Janssen grinned. "Marvelous aggression."

"Intellect?" Iggy asked.

"Like you wouldn't believe, you pathetic, blind creature."

"Cup holders?" Iggy pestered.

"Yes—um, I mean no. No cup holders."

Iggy laughed. "Better gas mileage?"

"Stop it," Janssen said calmly. "Would you care for a demonstration from Kellie herself?"

"Sure," I said. "Wanna see Kellie make a trip to the grocery store? Wanna see her do it again? ZOOM, ZOOM, ZOOM!"

Gazzy laughed for the first time since his molestation. Oh, thank God for that wonderful, happy sound.

"Observe," Janssen continued as if there had been no interruption. "Oh, Kellie?"

Kellie stood at attention. "Yes, Mommy?"

"A princess is as old as a prince will be when the princess is twice the age that the prince was when the princess' age was half the sum of their present ages. What, then, are their ages?"

Kellie's eyes began darting back and forth.

"Nobody cares!" I said immediately. "There, I win. Yo, Kellie!"

She looked down her nose at me. "Yeah?"

"Hi, Kellie. Here's one for you: what substance was Han Solo frozen in?"

Kellie blinked. "Um…"

"Enough," Janssen snarled. "Stop wasting Kellie's time!"

"You really like this one, don't you?" I said. "So, is she really your kid, or is it like your claim to me?"

"Kellie and I share no genetic material, it's true, but I have taken her into my heart… she is absolutely my daughter."

"Great," I said. "Well, Kellie, I don't envy you. This is one sucky mom you've got."

Kellie crouched down as if ready to spring. "I love my mommy," she snarled. "Don't talk that way to her…"

"At ease, Kellie," Janssen said. "But, you know, Max, Kellie truly is your sister in every possible way."

"Oh, I can think of a couple of ways in which she's _not_, but continue."

"A year or so ago, some of my whitecoats found that we still had some of the frozen genetic material that Valencia Martinez and Jeb Batchelder donated over eighteen years ago," Janssen said. "They wanted to use it to create a… a new _you_, I suppose one could say. Understandably, that concept didn't sit well with me. You, after all, are an inferior being—creating a creature for the purpose of being like you is a step backwards. But they insisted on using that material as the human base for a new mutant, the 'Unholy Assassin'. And just to be sure there were resemblances to you, they threw in some of the blood extracted from the atrocity that was called 'Max II'."

"I'm right here," Max II said angrily.

Janssen turned to her in surprise. "You? You travel with them now?"

"Yeah," Max retorted.

Janssen looked at me derisively. "You allow her to travel with you?"

"Yes, I do," I said firmly.

Janssen laughed. "Well, a perfect example of precisely the kind of inferiority I was talking about. However… ah, the results of the Unholy Assassin project speak for themselves! I love my Kellie very much."

Kellie smiled sweetly and rested her head on Janssen's shoulder.

"So, how many Kellies did you have to kill before you got one that behaved the way you wanted?" I said on impulse. Like I do everything.

Kellie stood upright, alarmed. "What kind of question is that?" she shrieked. "I'm the only Kellie. Right, Mommy?"

Janssen didn't respond.

"Mommy?" Kellie demanded, horrified.

"Of course, my dear," Janssen said. "There are no other Kellies… there is no one else like you."

Janssen didn't put any feeling into it at all. Not even her doting new daughter could have possibly bought that.

"Miss Liu, release Maximum Ride," Janssen said.

Shey waved her wand, and I plopped to the ground. I could move my whole body now.

"I want a private word, Max," Janssen said. "Know that if any harm befalls me, if any part of the meeting does not go according to my design, a signal will immediately be sent to Kellie, who will assassinate your entire flock."

I got to my feet. "Well, that sounds like a terrific offer," I said. "Sure, we'll talk. One question: where's Angel?"

"That's what I wanted to discuss," she said smoothly. "Come with me."

Janssen opened one of the side doors and went through. I followed.


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

Janssen's private room was more her speed. All chrome, with a big conference table. Janssen sat at the head of the table. I remained standing.

"I am so tired, Maximum Ride," she muttered pitifully.

I waited for her to continue. She didn't.

"Is that all?" I said. "If you're looking for my sympathy, you lost all potential for that, oh, let's see, when was it? Um, uh, ah, er, oh yeah, now I remember—when I was born. And there's nothing you can do to get it back."

"I don't want your sympathy," she snarled. "I only want you out of my life."

"Hey, I'm staying in your life, bitch," I countered. "As long as you're so dead-set on destroying the planet? I will _be_ part of your life. Maybe you should have thought of that before you made me."

"I wish I had," she said coldly.

"So, whatcha want now, Marian?" I asked.

"I've had _enough_ of you and your flock. You've resisted all my efforts to retire you, so… just go. Leave my home and never come back."

I put my elbows on the table and cupped my chin in my hands. "And what am I to get in return? Unless you change your ways lickety-split, I can't make that promise."

Janssen pressed a button on the table. A secret panel in the wall opened, and out stepped Angel. Standing behind her was the torturer… and in person, he was twice as horrible as in a dream vision.

"I offer Angel to you as a peace offering," Janssen said. "She's broken anyway, and of no use to me."

"Broken?" I said. "She's a person, you lousy—" I stayed my hand. "Okay, fine. And what do you want me to do?"

"Leave. Leave, and you don't need to be involved in what the Survivors are doing at all. You can take your flock, and go into hiding someplace far away, where our reach will not extend after the purification."

I stared. Could it really be this easy? "Deal," I said. "Come on, Angel."

"Hold," Janssen said sharply.

The torturer grabbed me by the waist in a hand that was heavier than a human being, and pinned me to the wall.

"What's this?" I sneered.

"Oh, come now, Max. I know you—I know you don't intend to leave well enough alone. I've instructed the torturer to give you some… incentive… to not be a hero."

The torturer snorted in my face. I saw his face up close, and it wasn't pretty. His eyes were pure white, no irises or pupils. He had no teeth. And his hair was fashioned to look like devil horns. Ain't they clever.

In his other hand, he hefted a tiny blade. My right hand was pinned against a wall, and with a tiny _thud_, he severed the tip of my pinky finger. Another _thud_, and the second knuckle was gone. A third _thud_, and there went my entire finger.

I thought that would be it, but no. He went for my next finger. _Thud. Thud. Thud._

The pain was unbelievable. _Thud. Thud. Thud._

Why wasn't Angel saving me? _Thud. Thud. Thud._

I tried to pass out, but there just wasn't anything that scared me enough to do that. So I had to endure the pain. _Thud. Thud._

My hand was just a stump now, but he wasn't finished. With a more powerful stroke, he cut it off at the wrist, and finally, he chopped off my entire forearm, then let me drop to the ground.

Marian knelt over me and began to bandage the bleeding stump just beyond my elbow. "I hope you have sense enough not to return," she said. "As it turns out, I don't do well around blood. Now then… return to the main hall. Lao Hu will escort you and the flock to the outskirts of our building. Imogen and her flock have been accounted for; they will join you as well."

She had finished. Already, blood was starting to soak the bandage… it would need changing almost immediately. "Go on, then," Janssen snapped. "Out of my sight."

I stood up, staring at her with burning hatred. "Come on, Angel," I said. I turned to her. She didn't move. She just stood there, stiffly, staring straight ahead, exactly as she had been when the torturer pushed her into the room. I stepped forward and looked into her eyes—she didn't even notice that I was there.

Janssen hadn't been exaggerating. Angel truly was broken.


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41**

Jewel looked out his window. He watched as the flock gathered together and flew off into the distance… were there more of them than usual? The more important question: if there were, did he care?

He watched the flock disappear into the desert haze. Then, in the blink of an eye, they were gone… as was the desert. A violent rain began to bombard Jewel's window.

Jewel turned around, shocked to be greeted by the upside-down face of Kellie.

"Hi, Jewel," she said.

"Hello, Kellie," he muttered in reply. "You know, this is _my_ room. You could have knocked."

Kellie shrugged. "Sorry," she said.

Jewel looked her over. She was barefoot, and by all appearances was simply standing on the ceiling. Jewel left his room and went to the main hall, and Kellie followed him. Once they were out the door, she dropped to the ground and adjusted her hair. Lao Hu was working at a computer, Lang and Shey were conspiratorially muttering in a corner, and Grease, Gum, and Mud were guarding the door to the corridor.

"You know, Mommy always said it was better that nobody knew I exist," Kellie said. "But I like this! I don't know why she thought that."

Jewel laughed as he leaned against the wall. "Yeah, that's an important moment in the life of any creation," he said. "When you realize your creator can be wrong. I remember the first time the Big Guy said something that I didn't quite agree with. Must have been the 80's or something, and I said to him 'wait, that can't be right' and it was like—WHOA! That's like my coming-of-age story."

Kellie cocked her head. "Who's the Big Guy?"

Jewel produced a wallet-size photo from a small compartment in his side. "Pablo Rodriguez," he said. "He made me, almost forty years ago." The photo was of the Big Guy as a human—tan-skinned and weak with age, his facial hair gone completely white but the hair on his head still black and luxurious.

Lao Hu, turned, surprised, in her swivel chair. "Jewel, you keep a picture of the Big Guy on your person?"

Jewel shrugged. "Sure. I kind of miss the miserable old bastard."

Kellie paced a circle around Jewel. "I'm admiring your casing," she said. "Lots of rubies. Red, just like my eyes!"

"Yep," Jewel said. "Easy, don't touch me. I've seen what those fingernails of yours can cut through."

Kellie giggled. "Okay," she said. "I don't want to hurt the rubies, for sure I don't…"

"Good," Jewel muttered. "Lots of people disrespecting the rubies! They get chipped, I have to get new ones. Quite the hassle. You know what really sucks, is when they take out one of my eyes. You have any idea how hard it is to find diamonds that big? Well, I suppose it could be harder. I don't know _why_ so many people feel the need to damage me. I mean, come on, I'm a work of art."

"Mommy says I'm a work of art," Kellie said.

Jewel paused, and turned to stare at Kellie. "You know, that's true," he said. "You _are_ a work of art. Kind of like… like the other end of the spectrum. That's something to think about!"

Jewel eyed his picture of the Big Guy. Suddenly, movement caught his eye. A tiny, powder-blue gecko, exactly like the one the Big Guy had discovered in his cell and melded with himself, was scurrying along the wall. Kellie followed his gaze, and tried to swat the gecko off the wall.

"Wait, don't!" Jewel said. He held the miniscule lizard delicately in his hand, staring at it as it slowly crawled all over his body.

"Interesting thoughts," he muttered. "The Big Guy made me, his work of art, but he also made _himself_… ever since he put on that lizard face, he was a treasure too. And they shot a hole through him…" He turned to Kellie. "You thinking about that, Kellie? Shooting a hole through _you_… that'd be like shooting a hole through me. Even worse, though, 'cause you can fix me. You can't fix _you_… am I right so far?"

Kellie shrugged. "What are you talking about?"

"Lao Hu, my darling, come here, would you?" Jewel said.

Lao Hu walked over. "Have you had a… revelation, my love?"

"Not really," Jewel muttered. "This has been a long time coming, but I truly understand now. I owe the world a vow. Will you help me uphold it, Lao Hu?"

She nodded slowly. "As best I can. What is your vow?"

"I pledge… I vow… I _swear_…" Jewel began. "On the ashes of my creator, that I will never again, as long as I exist, harm a mutant."

Lao Hu's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh… but why?"

"Because. Every mutant who lives is a priceless treasure, a relic, a work of art—just as much as I am," Jewel said. "And I can't bear to let harm befall them, ever again."

"Wow," Lao Hu muttered. "That's… that's wonderful, my sweet. I so admire the way you grow and change… I feel as if I love you more every day." She kissed him on the mandibles.

"Ugh, that's weird," Grease muttered.

Jewel's eyes turned to him. "Are you guys mutants?" he asked.

"Uh, no," Grease replied.

"Then I suggest you get out of range quickly," he said casually, wrapping his arms around Lao Hu.

Grease, Gum, and Mud quickly fled out the front door.

"He doesn't harm mutants anymore, huh?" Lang mused.

"Well, I guess we picked the right time to collect these, then, huh?" Shey said, holding aloft the bag of Fang's genetic material.

"Let's get to work," Lang said cheerfully.

The two of them scurried quietly down the corridor.

"Well, then," Jewel said. "Thank—" He paused, and looked around the room. Kellie had vanished without a trace.

"Oh, well," he said, shrugging. "Lao Hu, you can help me keep to my vow, can't you?"

"I'll hold you to it," she said. "I promise."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Janssen closed a door behind her. The room she was in was bathed in pitch darkness, impenetrable darkness.

"Headmaster?" she said.

_Yes,_ the Voice replied.

"The teleporter and the force field are back up and running," she said.

_Good. What happened to the flock?_

"I sent them on their way," Janssen said. "They won't return."

_What?_ Headmaster demanded. _I thought you knew better._

"You know that I can't stand them, Headmaster…"

_And YOU know that I want them, _Headmaster hissed._ I so desperately want them. You had better hope they come back._

"I tried, Headmaster," she said. "I tried to tolerate them. I simply could not."

_Try harder. Otherwise…_

A swinging scythe pierced the blackness. Janssen flinched away from it.

"I apologize," Janssen said.

_Well, I allow for second chances,_ Headmaster said gently. _Remember, Marian. You are the one who keeps this world from falling into chaos._

"I know," she said firmly.

_As for me, I am only here to be your friend. No one loves you more than I do, Marian._

"Of course."

_Conquer all your weaknesses._

"I shall," Marian said, her face turning bloodthirsty.

_Remember who you are._

"I will!" Marian crowed. There was silence. "Have you anything else to tell me, Headmaster?"

_Only that the ride now begins._

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Keegan Beck sat at her window, feeling the wind blow in her face.

"Keegan?" Niles muttered from the bed. "Keegan, what happened?"

He stepped up to her, trying to see what she was staring at.

"I feel…" Keegan muttered. "I sense…"

"What? A great disturbance in the Force? A glitch in the Matrix? Um, the One Ring?"

Keegan stared at him.

"That's all I had," he said. "What is it?"

"I don't know," Keegan admitted. "I have no idea what it is… no matter how hard I look, I can't find it."

Niles frowned. "How can that be? That's not possible."

"But it's true," Keegan said. "Something has just started. And I can't tell what it is. And I'm scared."


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

I guided Angel by the hand, out of the tower.

"Let's go, let's go!" I yelled.

The flock came after me. We were in a hot desert. What? They fixed it already? It was traveling again…

"Imogen!" I yelled.

Imogen had only just freed her flock from the net. The four of them gathered with the rest of us. We were probably mere inches outside the tower's borders before it vanished.

We all plopped down into the sand, exhausted.

"Max?" said a tiny voice.

My head snapped up. "Angel? Angel, you're okay!"

Angel sat up. "What… what happened…?" She saw the bandaged stump of my arm. "Oh my God, your arm! When did that happen?"

I frowned. "It was the torturer. Angel, you were standing right there when it happened."

She frowned. "I don't remember… I've been kind of out of sorts, Max."

I nodded. "I totally understand."

"But you came to get me," she muttered.

"Of course I did!" I said.

She started sobbing. "Listen, I… I never meant for Total to die… I thought…"

I put a finger to her lips—on my left hand, of course. "I know, Angel," I said. "I _know_ you. There's no need to explain at all." I hugged her. "Of course I came to get you. Without you, I'm not _me_. I'm not complete. You once said that the six of us together are the key to the world, the key to everything. Well, I need all of us together for _my_ world, _my_ everything. For a long time, that meant six of us… without six keys, you can't open the door that leads to me. But now there are eight."

Airy hugged my leg. Fang kissed me. Iggy and Nudge and Gazzy embraced me and Angel together.

I raised my eyebrows at Max II. "Hey, dude. I said _eight_."

Her eyes widened. Jeez, after all my affirmations, how could this _still_ alarm her? She stepped forward tentatively.

"Hey," Angel said. "I… I…" She held out a hand. "Are we cool?"

Max II took Angel's hand, then abruptly pulled her into a hug. "Yeah, we're cool," she said. "Don't worry about it."

Over Max's shoulder, Angel saw Imogen's flock, and gasped sharply. "Oh, my…" she said. "Who are they? They're… they're all so beautiful…"

"Aren't they, though?" Fang muttered darkly.

Angel stepped forward, then paused and narrowed her eyes. "What have you bosomy red-headed diminutive Cockney bitches done to my brother?" she demanded.

Fang and Iggy both had to hold her back before she finally calmed down, and Imogen felt it was safe to approach.

"Max?" she said. "About yer flock of eight. What would ye say to… twelve?" She gestured to herself and her flock.

I stared at her. "No, Immy. Not twelve. Eight."

Imogen frowned. "Listen, I know the behavior of these three has been contemptible at best, but I thought that ye and I were friends."

"We are," I said. "Let me explain… see, I'm a leader and you're a leader. I'm not giving that up, and I sure as hell wouldn't take it away from you. For us to both be leaders, I need to have my flock, and you need to have yours."

Imogen nodded and smiled. "Well, thank ye," she said. "And of course, this means ye outnumber me two-to-one."

"I took that into account, yes, and I think that works best."

We laughed. Imogen spotted something out of the corner of her eye and gazed at it, concerned. "Is she okay?" she whispered.

I looked. My clone was curled up on the ground, facing far away from the rest of the group.

"Let me go to her," I said, holding Imogen back. I sat down next to Max II. "Hey, dude," I said. "What's up?"

She inhaled deeply. "My life has changed so freaking much," she said. "I need to adjust to it. You know… Itex destroyed, roaming around in the wild for four flippin' years. I always figured I was waiting for something, looking for something, but I didn't know what in the hell it was. Then… Then I saw the broadcast. That big hologram that Fang sent all around the world, of his proposing to you. _That_'s when I knew what it was I wanted. That's when I started looking for you."

She started breathing heavily again. "And, you know, I didn't know what to expect. I figured the best that could happen was maybe a nice place to sleep, something good to eat… and then… and then… _hhhhhhhhhhhh_…" Her tears started flowing, and she was heaving now with such intensity that she could barely breathe, and had to get everything she had to say out in an instant: "_hhhhhhhhhhhh_… butyouinvite-meintoyourfamily-withopenarms… _hhhhhhhhhhhh_… andeverybody-treatsme-sowell-likeI'moneofthem… _hhhhhhhhhhhh_… andnowyou-saythatI'mone-ofthepeople-youcan'tlivewithout… _hhhhhhhhhhhh_… it's all just so… so wonderful…"

I rubbed her back weakly—damn, five minutes and I'm already getting sick of doing everything left-handed—and she started breathing normally. "Ugh, I need to get used to life in the flock," she muttered. "I know the flock doesn't blubber like that…"

"Nah, that's where you're wrong," I said. "Trust me, little sis. When the moment is right, the flock blubbers."

I led her back to the flock. "We're all together now," I said. "And it's… it's great."

"Um, hey Max?" Iggy said.

"Yeah?"

"Where exactly are we?"

I looked around. Nothing but a whole lot of sand. No recognizable landmarks, not even hills or slopes. Just flat sand everywhere you turn.

"I don't know, Ig," I admitted.

"We're lost, then?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**To be continued in Part 5: **_**Flyin'**_

**Well, so ends another stage of the flock's life. I do hope you enjoy my fanfiction, and I hope you all return whenever it is I continue. I love you all! Thank you for reading. **


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